Vigjilenca Abazi (V.)

Vigjilenca Abazi is tenured Assistant Professor of European Law. She teaches and writes about EU law, whistleblower law, privacy and cybersecurity, among other topics. 

In 2020, The Royals Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW) named Abazi the recipient of its Early Career Award for her innovative scientific contribution and policy impact. In 2018, Abazi was awarded the prestigious VENI research grant by the Dutch Research Council, granted to ‘outstanding researchers who display a striking talent for scientific research’. 

Abazi's work includes three (co)authored books and over 30 scientific peer-reviewed publications in leading international journals. Her monograph on EU official secrets and oversight, published in the Oxford Studies in European Law, is reviewed as 'masterful, unparalleled in depth, an authoritative guide showing encyclopaedic knowledge’ (Professor Pozen, Columbia Law School). 

Abazi held various esteemed Fellowships, including at Yale Law School, NYU School of Law, European University Institute, and University of Copenhagen. In 2020, she was named the Honorary Senior International Fellow at Government Accountability Project in Washington, D.C.

By invitation, Abazi was a Guest Professor at University of Tokyo, Vrij Universiteit Amsterdam, and South East European University. She has delivered the distinguished Jean Monnet Lectures at University of Bologna and University of Salamanca and given over 40 other lectures at Harvard Law School, Oxford University, Sciences Po Paris, FGV Brazil, NYU Abu Dhabi, and other exceptional institutions.

On whistleblowing, Dr. Abazi has offered legal advice to the European Parliament and the Council of Europe and co-drafted the model EU Directive for protection of whistleblowers.  

Her work is translated in Dutch, Russian, German, French, and Spanish and featured in Bloomberg, Der Spiegel, Le Monde.

Educational Background

Abazi conducted her PhD project entitled ‘Secrecy and Oversight in the European Union’ at University of Amsterdam. She was a Fulbright Visiting Scholar at Columbia Law School for one academic year during her PhD research.

Abazi holds two LLM degrees from Yale Law School (2019) and University of Amsterdam (2011). Previously, she obtained her LLB degree at Faculty of Law in Skopje (summa cum laude) and was awarded Student of the Year in 2010.

Vigjilenca Abazi has attended many summer schools and workshops including, the United States Naval Academy on Foreign Affairs in Maryland, the Academy of European Law at the European University Institute, and the International Summer School Seggau at University of Graz “Karl-Franzens”.

Veni Project 'Empowering Public Voices' 

The importance of whistleblowing is widely acknowledged in the EU, but a wide gap persists in adequate regulation. This negatively affects the protection of rights and the balance between public disclosure and privacy safeguards. This project advances scientific knowledge and the regulatory approach by providing an empirical and legal foundation for a best practices framework and an integrated analysis. Funded by the Dutch Research Council. 

Hestia Project 'Whistleblowing: Strengthening the Force of Law in Public Health, Privacy and Anticorruption'

Whistleblowing provides an urgently needed tool for accountability. To strengthen the rule of law in society we can no longer rely only on existing institutional checks and balances. This project advances knowledge on how whistleblowing can be used to improve law enforcement in public health, privacy protection and anticorruption. Funded by the Dutch Research Council. 

Project 'Improving expertise in the field of industrial relations' 

This project contributes toward strengthening and advancing industrial relations in the Member States by ensuring successful implementation of requirement of reporting channels – both their harmonisation across the EU as well as the vertical integration of national specificities. Conducted in partnership with Eurocadres, funded by the European Commission.