Pitt Law Alumna Vjosa Osmani Nominated by LDK as candidate for prime minister of Kosovo

PITTSBURGH–University of Pittsburgh School of Law LLM, ‘05 and SJD, ’15 graduate, Dr. Vjosa Osmani, has been nominated as the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) candidate to become the country’s next prime minister. Osmani served as an LDK deputy in the last legislature, having received more than 64,000 votes in the June 2017 elections, more than any other woman standing for election to the Assembly. The election will take place on Oct. 6, 2019.
Osmani holds a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Prishtina in Kosovo, and Masters and Doctorate degrees from Pitt Law. She currently teaches at the University of Prishtina, at the American College of Kosovo, and has taught at Pitt Law, as a Visiting Professor. Her research focuses on the rule of law, foreign policy, human rights, and social and equality issues.
For more than 15 years, Osmani has coached the University of Prishtina team for the VIS moot court competition in international commercial law and arbitration. In 2018, she was awarded the University of Pittsburgh’s Sheth International Young Alumni Award for her accomplishments in Kosovo and worldwide and was also deemed a Social Inclusion Champion by the United Nations Development Program.
Before running for parliamentary elections, Osmani served as Chief of Staff and Foreign Policy Advisor as well as Legal Advisor to the President of the Republic of Kosovo. During this period, she was the President’s representative in the Constitutional Commission, the body that drafted the first Constitution of the Republic of Kosovo. She was also a member of the Kosovo legal team at the International Court of Justice in the advisory proceedings related to Kosovo’s Declaration of Independence. Osmani is one of only a few politicians in Kosovo that engages for a cross-party dialog for issues that require national unity, at a time when Kosovo's political scene is very much divided and polarized. For that reason, the European Parliament has adopted a Resolution recognizing and welcoming the initiatives that she and a colleague MP undertook to foster political dialog.
“As a student, and then as a colleague, Vjosa demonstrated the intelligence, integrity, and hard work that have made her a powerful representative of her country and its people. It is that commitment to people rather than power that earned her the Sheth International Young Alumni Achievement Award from the University of Pittsburgh.” said Professor Ronald Brand, Academic Director of Pitt Law’s Center for International Legal Education. “She clearly is dedicated to a positive, peaceful, and productive future for Kosovo.”