Petrit Selimi (born 1 May 1979 in

Pristina Pristina, ; sr, / (, ) is the capital and largest city of Kosovo. The city's municipal boundaries in Pristina District form the largest urban center in Kosovo. After Tirana, Pristina has the second largest population of ethnic Albanians an ...

Kosovo Kosovo ( sq, Kosova or ; sr-Cyrl, Косово ), officially the Republic of Kosovo ( sq, Republika e Kosovës, links=no; sr, Република Косово, Republika Kosovo, links=no), is a partially recognised state in Southeast Euro ...

) is a former Kosovar Albanian politician, who has served as a Minister of Foreign Affairs of the

Republic of Kosovo Kosovo ( sq, Kosova or ; sr-Cyrl, Косово ), officially the Republic of Kosovo ( sq, Republika e Kosovës, links=no; sr, Република Косово, Republika Kosovo, links=no), is a partially recognised state in Southeast Europ ...

. He initially served in the position of a Deputy Foreign Minister during two consecutive mandates, under Prime Ministers

Hashim Thaci Hashim ( ar, هاشم) is a common male Arabic given name. Hashim may also refer to: *Hashim Amir Ali * Hashim (poet) *Hashim Amla *Hashim Thaçi *Hashim Khan * Hashim Qureshi * Mir Hashim Ali Khan * Hashim al-Atassi *Hashim ibn Abd Manaf *Hashim ...

(2011–2014) and

Isa Mustafa Isa Mustafa (; born 15 May 1951) is a retired Kosovar politician. Mustafa was the mayor of Pristina from December 2007 to December 2013 and served as the prime minister of Kosovo between December 2014 and September 2017. He was the leader of the D ...

(2014-2017). After the election of the former Foreign Minister

as a

President of Kosovo The president of the Republic of Kosovo ( sq, Presidenti i Republikës së Kosovës, ), is the head of state and chief representative of the de facto Republic of Kosovo in the country and abroad. The president is elected indirectly, by the Asse ...

, Selimi was named the country's Foreign Minister. Selimi now serves as the Chief Executive Officer of the Millennium Foundation Kosovo, Kosovo's biggest foundation, responsible for implementing the programs financed by the US federal agency

Millennium Challenge Corporation The Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) is a bilateral United States foreign aid agency established by the U.S. Congress in 2004. It is an independent agency separate from the State Department and USAID. It provides grants to countries that ...

. He is also a Fellow at German Marshall Fund of United States. In his previous job as country's Foreign Minister and Deputy Foreign Minister Selimi has initiated several noted diplomatic initiatives including Kosovo's award-winning

Digital Diplomacy Digital diplomacy, also referred to as Digiplomacy and eDiplomacy (see below), has been defined as the use of the Internet and new information communication technologies to help achieve diplomatic objectives. However, other definitions have also ...

program as well as Interfaith Kosovo initiative. Wired Magazine called Selimi "a pioneer in digital diplomacy." He was also selected as the "team-leader of the year 2013 in digital diplomacy" in the global survey by Turkish magazine Yeni Diplomasi. In recent press coverage in Huffington Post, Selimi was also noted as a prominent promoter of global interfaith dialogue.

Career

As a children's rights activist in his teens, Selimi in 1995 co-founded "Postpessimists", the first network of youth

NGO A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from government. They are typically nonprofit entities, and many of them are active in h ...

s in the former Yugoslavia. The organization later won Global Youth Peace and Tolerance Award. After finishing studies in

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the ...

, Selimi returned to participate in various civic initiatives, serving as a member of the Board of Directors of

Soros Foundation Open Society Foundations (OSF), formerly the Open Society Institute, is a grantmaking network founded and chaired by business magnate George Soros. Open Society Foundations financially supports civil society groups around the world, with a st ...

in Kosovo. He later helped found Balkan Children and Youth Foundation, serving for two terms as a member of the Board of Directors, alongside President

Martti Ahtisaari Martti Oiva Kalevi Ahtisaari (; born 23 June 1937) is a Finnish politician, the tenth president of Finland (1994–2000), a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, and a United Nations diplomat and mediator noted for his international peace work. Ahtisa ...

, CNN Chief International Correspondent

Christiane Amanpour Christiane Maria Heideh AmanpourStated on '' Finding Your Roots'', 22 January 2019 (; fa, کریستیان امان‌پور, Kristiane Amānpur; born 12 January 1958) is a British-Iranian journalist and television host. Amanpour is the Chie ...

and others. Selimi was also one of the founders of the daily newspaper Express, serving as the first publishing director of this daily newspaper. In 2004 he co-founded Stripdepot, comics bookshop/cafe, situated in downtown Pristina. Selimi worked as private public relations consultant in Kosovo, until June 2011, when he got appointed by the Prime Minister of Kosovo

Hashim Thaçi Hashim Thaçi (; born 24 April 1968) is a Kosovar Albanian politician who was the president of Kosovo from April 2016 until his resignation on 5 November 2020 to face a war crimes tribunal. He was the first prime minister of Kosovo and the For ...

as a Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of

. Selimi was also the initiator of the installation of the memorial stone dedicated to Kosovar Jews who perished in the

Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; ...

, erected by the gates of the Kosovo Parliament.

Personal life

Petrit Selimi is married with Arlinda Selimi since 2010. They have a son Rrok Trim Selimi. They live and work in

Awards

In 2019, Petrit Selimi has received the prestigious Marshall Memorial Fellowship 2019, provided by the

German Marshall Fund The German Marshall Fund of the United States (GMF) is a nonpartisan American public policy think tank that seeks to promote cooperation and understanding between North America and the European Union. Founded in 1972 through a gift from the We ...

. The Marshall Memorial Fellowship (MMF) is GMF’s flagship leadership development program and previous alumni include President Emmanuel Macron of France and EU’s former Foreign Policy chief Federica Mogherini. In 2016, Selimi was awarded the prestigious global Doha Award for Interfaith Dialogue, in a ceremony organized by the Doha International Center for Interfaith Dialogue. The Award was granted to Selimi by the

Qatar Qatar (, ; ar, قطر, Qaṭar ; local vernacular pronunciation: ), officially the State of Qatar,) is a country in Western Asia. It occupies the Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it ...

Minister of Justice. In 2014 Selimi was honored as Knight Commander of Royal order of Francis I, bestowed to him by

Vatican Vatican may refer to: Vatican City, the city-state ruled by the pope in Rome, including St. Peter's Basilica, Sistine Chapel, Vatican Museum The Holy See * The Holy See, the governing body of the Catholic Church and sovereign entity recognized ...

's nuncio to the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoniz ...

Cardinal Martino of

Sacred Military Constantinian Order of Saint George The Sacred Military Constantinian Order of Saint George (SMOCG) ( it, Sacro Militare Ordine Costantiniano di San Giorgio, es, Sagrada Orden Militar Constantiniana de San Jorge), also historically referred to as the Imperial Constantinian Order ...

, for Selimi's role in promoting interfaith dialogue and tolerance. In 2008 Selimi won a

Chevening Scholarship The Chevening Scholarship is an international scholarship, funded by the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office, that lets foreign students with leadership qualities study at universities in the United Kingdom. History The Chevening Scholarship ...

from the

British Council The British Council is a British organisation specialising in international cultural and educational opportunities. It works in over 100 countries: promoting a wider knowledge of the United Kingdom and the English language (and the Welsh lan ...

enabling him to undertake studies at

London School of Economics The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) is a public university, public research university located in London, England and a constituent college of the federal University of London. Founded in 1895 by Fabian Society members Sidn ...

References

External links

Blog page of Petrit Selimi at European Council on Foreign Relations

Petrit Selimi's columns in Daily Express

Article on Selimi in Dutch webzine

Interview with Selimi in Balkan Insight magazine, published by BIRN

Interview with Selimi in Express daily newspaper

Home page of the comic's inspired cafe, founded by Petrit Selimi

Blog page of Petrit Selimi, in Kosovotwopointzero, Kosovo's blog generator
{{DEFAULTSORT:Selimi, Petrit Kosovo Albanians Living people 1979 births Kosovan diplomats Politicians from Pristina Foreign ministers of Kosovo Government ministers of Kosovo University of Oslo alumni