Clarisse Pasztory is the Deputy Head of Mission of the OSCE Presence in Tirana. She brings over 20 years of diplomatic crisis management experience in the Balkans (2001-2007) and the Middle East (2007-19). From 2016-19 she headed the EU Office in Erbil, Kurdistan Region of Iraq. Previous MENA postings include Syria, Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Yemen. Before moving to the Middle East, Clarisse specialized on the Western Balkans and was part of successive crisis management missions in North Macedonia, Kosovo and BiH. She holds degrees in International Studies/Economics (BA) and International Relations (MA) from the US and an MPhil in Political Sciences from Austria, with postgraduate studies in non-profit management and strategic planning in Switzerland and Arabic and Islamic Studies in Syria. She speaks German, English, Albanian, French, Italian and basic Arabic.