Selection Committee
Alexandra Föderl-Schmid
Alexandra Föderl-Schmid is editor-in-chief of Austrian daily Der Standard, media partner of the Balkan Fellowship for Journalistic Excellence. The first woman in Austrian history to have held such a post, she previously reported extensively on European issues, including the wars in former Yugoslavia and EU enlargement.
Föderl-Schmid brings to the Fellowship the additional benefit of her expertise in communications, in which she holds a doctorate, as well as in-depth study of the dynamics of European integration.
Drago Hedl
Drago Hedl is an editor of the Croatian political weekly Feral Tribune, known for its relentless investigation of political and human rights abuses during the most difficult period of Croatia’s recent past.Hedl was awarded the Knight International Journalism Award in 2006, in recognition of his investigations into war crimes, and remains one of the most authoritative and respected voices in the media of the former Yugoslavia. Gerald Knaus
As president of the European Stability Initiative, Gerald Knaus works from Berlin and Istanbul to lead the institute’s influential research on South Eastern Europe and Turkey.ESI’s projects, publications and policy recommendations on the development and European integration of the Balkans are of great relevance to understanding of these processes. Remzi Lani
As Executive Director of the Albanian Media Institute, an independent organisation set up in 1995 to assist the Albanian media to strengthen professional standards, Remzi Lani brings considerable training and development expertise to the Balkan Fellowship for Journalistic Excellence.He is also a key figure in the Balkan media sector, having served as the first president of the South East European Network of Media Centers and Media Institutes, as well as a journalist, editor and human rights activist. Christiane Schlötzer
Christiane Schlötzer is a prominent German journalist, now serving as deputy foreign editor at the Süddeutsche Zeitung. Having joined one of the largest German-language dailies to cover domestic politics, she went on to become its Istanbul correspondent, covering Turkey, Greece and Cyprus, before taking up her current position.In addition to her professional experience, Schlötzer also brings to the Fellowship an interest in assisting colleagues in difficult circumstances, demonstrated by her voluntary position as vice-chairperson of Journalists help Journalists, an association which offers support to reporters and their families in situations of conflict and war. Wolfgang Wähner-Schmidt
Wolfgang Wähner-Schmidt, Editor Europe (Central Region) for Reuters since 2004, contributes to the Fellowship’s Selection Committee a wealth of journalism experience.Currently based in Frankfurt and Berlin, he previously served in London as Global Editor Television, Pictures and Sports from 1998 to 2004, in charge of Reuters’ global pictures and TV operations, and from 2000-2004 as a Director of Reuters Television (previously Visnews). He started his career as a correspondent in Germany and Switzerland and joined Reuters in 1983. Frank Umbach
Frank Umbach is responsible for the Security Policies in Asia-Pacific Program of the German Council on Foreign Relations. He is also Co-Chair of the European Committee of the Council for Security Cooperation in Asia-Pacific (ESCSCAP or CSCAP-Europe). Before joining the institute in 1996, he worked as a research fellow at the Federal Institute for East European and International Affairs (BIOst) in Cologne and at the research institute of the Japanese Foreign Ministry (Japan Institute for International Affairs/JIIA) in Tokyo. His portfolio includes work with NATO and several fellowships in the US as well as in Russia. He is a consultant of the German Foreign and Defence Ministries, and has published reports on behalf of the European Commission in Brussels and the European Parliament in Strasbourg. He is also a member of the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) in London and was lecturer at the Free University of Berlin in 2002 and 2003. Frank Umbach is a member of one of the Presidential Working Groups of “International Issues Relating to Raw Materials” of the Federation of the German Industries (BDI) and author of more than 150 publications in 18 countries, including the three books. He studied Political Science, East European history and international law at the universities of Marburg and Bonn.