Vlora Çitaku (born 10 October 1980) is a

Kosovar Albanian The Albanians of Kosovo ( sq, Shqiptarët e Kosovës, ), also commonly called Kosovo Albanians, Kosovar/Kosovan Albanians or Kosovars/Kosovans, constitute the largest ethnic group in Kosovo. Kosovo Albanians belong to the ethnic Albanian sub-gr ...

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

and diplomat who served as the Ambassador of Kosovo to the United States. She formerly served as Consul General of Kosovo in New York. Before joining Kosovo's diplomatic corps, Vlora served as Minister for European Integration 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 Euro ...

. She was noted as one of the most successful ministers of the 2011-2014 Kosovo government. She relinquished her MP seat in the

Kosovo Assembly The Assembly of the Republic of Kosovo ( sq, Kuvendi i Republikës së Kosovës; sr, Скупштина Републике Косово, Skupština Republike Kosovo) is the unicameral legislature of the Republic of Kosovo that is directly electe ...

upon taking the governmental position, which she won as one of the top three most voted candidates.

Career

Vlora Çitaku was only a teen when she became interpreter and a stringer for major Western news outlets at the onset of Kosovo war. She later became a refugee during the

Kosovo War The Kosovo War was an armed conflict in Kosovo that started 28 February 1998 and lasted until 11 June 1999. It was fought by the forces of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (i.e. Serbia and Montenegro), which controlled Kosovo before the war ...

and has been involved with politics since 1999. She initially became spokesperson for the KLA and joined the PDK after the formation of the party in the post-war Kosovo. She was a Member of Parliament in two mandates. She states that she has overcome the stereotypes in politics that one must be old and a man."Profile: Vlora Citaku- Kosovo's new challenge"
''kijacnews.net'' 2 March 2010 Link retrieved 21 February 2011 She was the acting

Minister of Foreign Affairs A foreign affairs minister or minister of foreign affairs (less commonly minister for foreign affairs) is generally a cabinet minister in charge of a state's foreign policy and relations. The formal title of the top official varies between cou ...

between 18 October 2010 and 22 February 2011.

Controversy

At the 15th anniversary of the start of the

NATO bombing of Yugoslavia The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) carried out an aerial bombing campaign against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia during the Kosovo War. The air strikes lasted from 24 March 1999 to 10 June 1999. The bombings continued until an a ...

, Çitaku posted an image on

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

that provoked political controversy. She replaced the well known slogan for

Nike Nike often refers to: * Nike (mythology), a Greek goddess who personifies victory * Nike, Inc., a major American producer of athletic shoes, apparel, and sports equipment Nike may also refer to: People * Nike (name), a surname and feminine give ...

, “

Just Do It ''Just Do It '' or JDI for short is a trademark of shoe company Nike, and it is one of the core components of Nike's brand. The slogan was coined in 1988 at an advertising agency meeting. The founder of the Wieden+Kennedy agency, Dan Wieden, cr ...

”, with the words, “NATO Air Just Do It” – with a warplane next to it. Serbia's

Ministry of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is the government department responsible for the state's diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral relations affairs as well as for providing support for a country's citizens who are abroad. The entit ...

called the gesture disrespectful to Serbs civilians killed by NATO air strikes. Analysts also considered it in bad taste. Nike, Inc. also said that the image "did not represent their officials stand" - and that company was in no way involved in posting the tweet or in creating the image. In April 2019, Çitaku tweeted comparing an episode of ''

Game of Thrones ''Game of Thrones'' is an American fantasy drama television series created by David Benioff and D. B. Weiss for HBO. It is an adaptation of ''A Song of Ice and Fire'', a series of fantasy novels by George R. R. Martin, the first ...

'' to the history between

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe, Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Bas ...

and Kosovo, while she put Serbia in the role of

White Walker A White Walker is a humanoid creature from the HBO television series ''Game of Thrones'', and the George R. R. Martin novel series ''A Song of Ice and Fire'' on which it is based. Primarily referred to as the Others in the novels, White Walkers ...

s, the main villains that are portrayed as a supernatural threat to humankind. Her tweet prompted widespread reactions, including a retweet from

Stefana Miladinović Stefana Miladinović ( sr-Cyrl, Стефана Миладиновић; born 28 September 1981) is a politician in Serbia. She has served in the National Assembly of Serbia from 2012 until August 2020 as a member of the Socialist Party of Serbia. ...

Notes

References

External links

Kosovo Assembly Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Citaku, Vlora 1980 births Living people Government ministers of Kosovo Foreign ministers of Kosovo Politicians from Podujevo Female foreign ministers Kosovan women diplomats Yugoslav refugees 21st-century women politicians Women government ministers of Kosovo Ambassadors of Kosovo to the United States Women ambassadors