How the news again reflects her research
Abazi seems to thrive when she’s doing multiple things at the same time. The week before her PhD defence, in December 2015, she wrote a legal memo for the European Parliament about the legal possibilities for adopting a law to protect whistleblowers. She helped to identify a legal path that shifted the legislative debate from ‘Can we do it?’ to ‘How can we best do it?’. “My Veni grant that I received in 2018 has to do with protecting whistleblowers. These are individuals who are putting so much on the line for accountability, but are paying a high personal cost.” The legal debate on whistleblowing took off in Brussels and important events built up political pressure for the law to be adopted, including the murders of two journalists, in Malta and in Slovakia. In 2019, the EU Whistleblower Directive was adopted. For the past two years, Abazi been working together with Eurocadres (which represents trade unions) on a project funded by the European Commission to help with the national implementation of the law. “I’m passionate about changing the dynamics of whistleblowing, so it’s no longer one person against a machine—because no matter how strong you are, fighting alone is just too hard.”

How her background is reflected in her research
She paints the bigger picture of her current research in a passionate plea. “Traditionally, we have the power of the state and of private parties, but at the moment, power is constantly shifting. More than ever, power is invisible—I mean the real power, like Facebook with two billion users worldwide. It is in this context of power that I’m trying to figure out how we can keep power in check and hold the powerful accountable. We need to rethink the system. How do people fit in this very complicated world of power and accountability, where public and private power are mixed in a way that creates a lot of uncertainty?” She feels her background ties together perfectly with the topics she works on. “Because I truly believe in holding power accountable. And with these types of issues, law can have a protective value, ensuring that there’s accountability and transparency.”

How you can have both roots and wings in Maastricht
Maastricht University has felt like an academic home for her, she says. “This nurturing, supportive environment gives me both roots and wings. I feel welcomed here, but I also felt it was appreciated if I spent time at other universities to advance my research. There was always a door open to return to Maastricht.” And she did. “After a year in Maastricht, I was promoted to an assistant professor. At that point, I realised that my first master’s programme almost passed me by, because I was so young at the time. I wanted to do a second master’s, on my terms.” Abazi went to Yale Law School and, among other programmes, she was selected for the programme in U.S. Foreign Policy taught by former Secretary of State John Kerry. “At Yale, I wanted to improve my writing skills. I truly believe it is our job as scientists to discover complex things and then simplify them, to make them understandable for everyone, because we shouldn’t live in a society where knowledge is exclusive. University research should be beneficial for every Dutch citizen.”

Next to her own research and teaching, Abazi used to be the research coordinator of CERIM, the Centre for European Research in Maastricht. “I’m kind of a restless person, as you might have noticed by now”, she laughs. And then there’s the organisations that she dedicates her spare time to, which all have a connection with her home country or region. She founded Stella, for instance, a non-profit mentorship organisation that helps girls and women to pursue further education or to advance in their careers. “Because I stand on the shoulders of so many people who have helped me in so many ways. I’ve been very fortunate in that regard, but so many girls don’t have that.”

By: Femke Kools (text) Casey O'Dell (translation) and Jonathan Vos (photography).