Keida Kostreci

Keida Kostreci is the supervisory managing editor of VOA Albanian Service. She is a seasoned reporter and a host who has covered a broad array of topics ranging from Balkan politics, justice reform in the region and radical extremism, to U.S. politics, gender equality and culture. 

Kostreci has covered political conventions, inaugurations and hearings and has interviewed senior officials from the Balkans, including presidents and prime ministers, as well as senior U.S. officials and international affairs experts. Coming of age in the early years of regime change in her native Albania, gave Kostreci a front-row seat not only to the country’s political transformation from communism to democracy but also to the human stories of fellow Albanians leaving the country in droves and to social unrest. She holds a bachelor’s degree in foreign languages from the University of Tirana (1996) and a master’s degree in international relations from American University (2010) in Washington, D.C. Kostreci started her career as a newswoman for the only news agency at the time in Albania, and later joined one of the most prominent dailies, first as a politics reporter and later as the first female editor in charge of politics, shaping coverage at a time of political turmoil in the country.