Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović

Who is Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović?

Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović is a Croatian diplomat. She currently serves as the Assistant Secretary General for Public Diplomacy at NATO. She is the first woman ever to be appointed the position of Assistant Secretary General at NATO. From 2008 to 2011, she was the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Croatia to United States. She was sworn in as ambassador on March 19, 2008. From 2005 to 2008 she was the foreign minister of Croatia.

Kolinda Grabar was born in Rijeka, Croatia. She lived in the United States for part of her childhood and graduated from Los Alamos High School in Los Alamos, New Mexico. She then attended the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Zagreb, graduating in the study of English and Spanish language in 1992. Later she obtained a masters degree in international relations from the Faculty of Political Science, University of Zagreb. From 1995 to 1996, she attended the Diploma Course at the Diplomatic Academy of Vienna.

In 1992, Grabar-Kitarović became an advisor to the international cooperation department of the ministry of science and technology of Croatia. In 1993 she moved to the foreign ministry, becoming an advisor. In 1995 she became the head of the North American department of the foreign ministry, remaining in that position until 1997. In 1997 she began to work at the Croatian embassy in Canada, as a diplomatic councilor until October 1998 and then as a minister-councilor. She remained in Canada until 2000.