Following removal of Ambassador Vlora Citaku by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Glauk Konjufca, the second Deputy Prime Minister in the Government of Kosovo, Haki Abazi, has nominated Ilir Dugolli  for Ambassador to the United States of America.

As Abazi said, he would personally choose Mr. Dugolli as the new Ambassador to the U.S.

“He is actually our ambassador to Ankara. He is professional and deserves to represent Kosovo in the U.S.”, Abazi said among others.

But, who is Ilir Dugolli, Haki Abazi’s nominee for the Ambassador to the U.S.?

Ilir Dugolli joined Kosovo’s diplomatic service with the first set of appointments, following the 2008 Kosovo Declaration of Independence.

From 2008 to 2013 he served as Head of Mission/Kosovo Ambassador to Brussels, which included Belgium, Luxembourg, the EU and NATO. From 2013 to 2016 he served as Kosovo’s Ambassador to Sweden (non-resident for Norway, Finland, Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia and Iceland), while from 2017 until the end of 2019 he was Director of Security Policy and NATO within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Between 2002 and 2004, he served as the Prime Minister’s Chief Adviser to Kosovo’s first democratically elected government, while during the 2007-2008 negotiations for Kosovo status Dugolli was a legal expert within Kosovo’s “Unity Team.”

Dugolli currently serves as Kosovo’s Ambassador to Turkey.

Otherwise, Kosovo’s current Minister of Foreign Affairs and Diaspora, Glauk Konjufca has proposed the removal of seven political ambassadors, including Kosovo’s Ambassador to Washington, Mrs. Vlora Citaku.