Blerim Gashani

Blerim Gashani was born on December 25, 1974 in the village of Tërstenik, municipality of Drenas. He completed his primary education in his village, and his secondary education in Drenas. Initially, he studied English Language and Literature at the University of Prishtina, then he completed his basic studies in Mass Communication and Journalism at AAB University, where he is completing his Master studies.

Between December 9, 1994 and February 27, 2000, he used to work as a teacher in the primary school "Zenel Hajdini" in Tërstenik. From February 28, 2000 to December 16, 2008, he worked for the United Nations Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) and between December 23, 2008 and July 31, 2014 he worked for the European Union Rule of Law Mission (EULEX).

From August 1, 2014 until April 15, 2021, he worked for NI-CO, a UK organization, which has implemented many projects in the Republic of Kosovo, especially related to security and justice. On April 16, 2021, he was appointed Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, where, among other tasks, he is also the National Coordinator for Integrated Border Management, the National Coordinator for Anti-Trafficking and the National Coordinator for Migration.

Gashani has published recensions and has good experience as an editor, corrector and proofreader of the standard Albanian language in various academic and journalistic publications.  So far, in addition to hundreds of journalistic articles published in the print and electronic media of Kosovo, Albania and Northern Macedonia, he has published two books: " Freezing Autumn" - co-authored, in 2017, and "Chronicle of the destruction of Kosovo” in 2020.

He is married and has two children.

Bardhyl Dobra

Bardhyl Dobra was born on February 17, 1986 in Drenas. He is completing his Ph.D. at Ghent University in Belgium and he is working on his Ph.D thesis "Public Administration in Post-Conflict States: the Case of Kosovo". He has published several articles and chapters related to the field of public administration and policies in post-conflict states.

From 2013 to 2020, Bardhyl was the Secretary General of the world's largest network of schools and institutes of administration, the International Association of Schools and Institutes of Administration (IASIA) based in Brussels, and during the period 2019-2020 served also as a responsible officer for accreditations at the International Commission on Accreditation on Public Administration Education and Training Programs (ICAPA).

Bardhyl Dobra was displaced to France in May 1999, as did thousands of Kosovo Albanians. There, he completed part of his primary school, high school and bachelor and master studies in applied economics at the Université de Reims Champagne-Ardenne in France. During this period, Bardhyl has been part of exchange programs through which he studied one semester at the University of the West of Scotland in the United Kingdom, and one year at Pittsburg State University in the United States. 

After returning to France, Bardhyl also graduated in postgraduate studies in political science and completed his internship at the French Embassy in Kosovo. Bardhyl continued his professional experience at the International Institute of Administrative Sciences in Brussels. Bardhyl was the founder and collaborator of several student organizations in France, Erasmus Student Network Reims (ESN Reims), Promo 3E, Association des Etudiants Spécialistes de l'Europe Centrale et Orientale (AESECO), and until April 2021 he was the Vice President of the Kosovo Cultural Center in Paris (KCCP), and a board member of the Global Albanian Foundation (GAF).

Bardhyl speaks French and English, and has a basic level of Italian.