Petrit Selimi

Petrit Selimi
Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs
Incumbent
Assumed office
1 June 2011
Preceded by Vlora Çitaku
Personal details
Born 1 May 1979
Pristina, SFR Yugoslavia
(today Kosovo)
Nationality Kosovan
Political party Democratic Party of Kosovo
Spouse(s) Arlinda Selimi
Children Rrok Trim Selimi
Residence Pristina, Kosovo
Alma mater BA in Social Anthropoly from University of Oslo
Master of Science in Media and Communication from London School of Economics ongoing.
Website Petrit Selimi, Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Petrit Selimi (born 1 May 1979 in Pristina, Kosovo, then-SFR Yugoslavia) is a Kosovan politician, current Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Republic of Kosovo. He has served in this position during two consecutive mandates, under Prime Ministers Hashim Thaci (2011-2014) and Isa Mustafa (2014-ongoing). He has initiated several noted initiatives including Kosovo's Digital Diplomacy program. Wired Magazine called Selimi "a pioneer in digital diplomacy."[1] He was also selected as the "team-leader of the year 2013 in digital diplomacy" in the global survey by Turkish magazine Yeni Diplomasi.[2][3]


Career

As a children's rights activist in his teens, Selimi in 1995 co-founded "Postpessimists", the first network of youth NGOs in the former Yugoslavia. The organization later won Global Youth Peace and Tolerance Award.[4]

After finishing studies in Norway, Selimi returned to participate in various civic initiatives, serving as a member of the Board of Directors of Soros Foundation 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, CNN Chief International Correspondent Christiane Amanpour and others.[5]

Selimi was also one of the initial 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.[6][7]

Selimi worked as private public relations consultant in Kosovo,[8][9][10][11] until June 2011, when he got appointed by the Prime Minister of Kosovo Hashim Thaçi as a Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Kosovo.[12][13][14]

Personal life

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

Awards

In 2008 Selimi won a Chevening Scholarship from the British Council enabling him to undertake studies at London School of Economics.

In 2014 Selimi was honored as Knight Commander of Royal order of Francis I, bestowed to him by Cardinal Martino of Sacred Military Constantinian Order of Saint George, for Selimi's role in promoting interfaith dialogue and tolerance.

References

  1. ↑ http://www.wired.com/2014/08/pushing-the-boundaries-of-digital-diplomacy-in-kosovo/
  2. ↑ http://thepublicdiplomat.com/2013/12/30/yeni-diplomasis-review-of-digital-diplomacy-in-2013/
  3. ↑ http://www.pri.org/stories/2014-12-11/kosovo-cant-get-recognition-un-it-can-get-it-facebook
  4. ↑ http://www.y2kyouth.org/Global/award03.html
  5. ↑ http://balkanyouth.org/how_we_began.html
  6. ↑ http://www.easterneuropeancomics.com/kosovo/stripdepot-cafe/
  7. ↑ http://books.google.com/books?id=GCRjKdrmqqEC&pg=PA106&lpg=PA106&dq=stripdepot&source=bl&ots=_-7NjzYCRU&sig=-NiQddJIR5TcPOQOPC7Hz004v-Y&hl=en&ei=iRomTO-VDYTLOIqvtbsC&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=3&ved=0CBkQ6AEwAjgK#v=onepage&q&f=false
  8. ↑ http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Europe/2008/0219/p12s01-woeu.html
  9. ↑ http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2010505,00.html
  10. ↑ http://www.dailytexanonline.com/content/obstacles-burden-new-kosovo-state-young-population
  11. ↑ http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/pristina-s-music-scene-comes-of-age
  12. ↑ http://www.mfa-ks.net/index.php?page=2,127
  13. ↑ http://www.setimes.com/cocoon/setimes/xhtml/en_GB/features/setimes/features/2011/10/25/feature-01
  14. ↑ http://www.economist.com/node/21532306

External links