Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović
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Official portrait, 2015
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| President of Croatia | |
| In office 19 February 2015 – 18 February 2020 |
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| Prime Minister | Zoran Milanović Tihomir Orešković Andrej Plenković |
| Preceded by | Ivo Josipović |
| Succeeded by | Zoran Milanović |
| Assistant Secretary General of NATO for Public Diplomacy | |
| In office 4 July 2011 – 2 October 2014 |
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| Secretary General | Anders Fogh Rasmussen Jens Stoltenberg |
| Preceded by | Stefanie Babst (acting) |
| Succeeded by | Ted Whiteside (acting) |
| Ambassador of Croatia to the United States | |
| In office 8 March 2008 – 4 July 2011 |
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| President | Stjepan Mesić Ivo Josipović |
| Preceded by | Neven Jurica |
| Succeeded by | Vice Skračić (acting) |
| Minister of Foreign and European Affairs | |
| In office 17 February 2005 – 12 January 2008 |
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| Prime Minister | Ivo Sanader |
| Preceded by | Miomir Žužul (Foreign Affairs) Herself (European Affairs) |
| Succeeded by | Gordan Jandroković |
| Minister of European Affairs | |
| In office 23 December 2003 – 16 February 2005 |
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| Prime Minister | Ivo Sanader |
| Preceded by | Neven Mimica |
| Succeeded by | Position abolished |
| Member of the International Olympic Committee | |
| Assumed office 17 July 2020 |
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| Co-Chair of the Global Preparedness Monitoring Board | |
| Assumed office 26 June 2023 |
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| Preceded by | Joy Phumaphi |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
Kolinda Grabar
29 April 1968 Rijeka, SR Croatia, SFR Yugoslavia (modern Croatia) |
| Political party | Croatian Democratic Union (1993–2015) Independent (2015–present) |
| Spouse |
Jakov Kitarović
(m. 1996) |
| Children | 2 |
| Education |
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| Signature | .jpg) |
Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović (born 29 April 1968) is a Croatian politician and diplomat. She served as the fourth President of Croatia from 2015 to 2020. She was the first woman ever to be elected president of Croatia. At 46 years old, she was also the youngest person to become president.
Before becoming president, Grabar-Kitarović had many important jobs in government and diplomacy. A diplomat is someone who represents their country in other nations. She was Croatia's ambassador to the United States and also worked for NATO, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. NATO is a group of countries that agree to protect each other.
She has received many awards for her work, including the Fulbright Lifetime Achievement Award. While she was a member of the Croatian Democratic Union political party for many years, she had to leave the party when she became president. This is because Croatian presidents must be politically independent and not belong to any party while in office.
In 2020, she was elected as a member of the International Olympic Committee, which organizes the Olympic Games. In 2023, she was also chosen to help lead a group that works with the World Health Organization to prepare for global health emergencies.
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Early Life and Schooling
Kolinda Grabar was born on April 29, 1968, in Rijeka, Croatia. At that time, Croatia was part of a country called Yugoslavia. She grew up in a small village called Lopača, where her family had a butcher shop and a ranch.
When she was 17, she took part in a student exchange program and moved to the United States. She graduated from Los Alamos High School in New Mexico in 1986.
After high school, she returned to Croatia and went to the University of Zagreb. She graduated in 1993 with a degree in English and Spanish. She continued her studies and earned a master's degree in international relations in 2000.
She also studied in other countries. She was a Fulbright scholar at George Washington University in Washington, D.C., and also studied at Harvard University.
Career in Politics and Diplomacy
Grabar-Kitarović started her career in 1992 working for the Croatian government. In 1993, she joined the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) political party and began working for the Foreign Ministry. She later worked at the Croatian embassy in Canada.
In 2003, she was elected to the Croatian Parliament. She became the Minister of European Integration, where her job was to help Croatia prepare to join the European Union. The European Union, or EU, is a group of European countries that work together on trade and laws.
Later, she became the Minister of Foreign Affairs and European Integration. Her main goal was to lead Croatia's efforts to join both the EU and NATO.
Ambassador and NATO Leader
In 2008, Grabar-Kitarović became Croatia's ambassador to the United States. She represented her country in the U.S. until 2011. During this time, she worked to build a strong relationship between the two nations.
In 2011, she was chosen for a top job at NATO as the Assistant Secretary General for Public Diplomacy. She was the first woman to ever hold this position. Her role was to help explain NATO's mission to the public. She was often called SWAMBO by her coworkers, which stood for "She Who Must Be Obeyed."
Becoming President of Croatia
In 2014, Grabar-Kitarović decided to run for president of Croatia. She was the only woman among the four candidates. The election was very close. In the first round, no one got more than 50% of the vote, so a second round was held between the top two candidates: Grabar-Kitarović and the current president, Ivo Josipović.
On January 11, 2015, she won the election with 50.7% of the vote. She became the first female president in Croatia's history. She was also the first woman in Europe to win an election against a president who was running for a second term.
Presidency (2015–2020)
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As president, Grabar-Kitarović was the Commander-in-Chief of the Croatian Armed Forces. One of her major projects was the Three Seas Initiative, which she started in 2015 with the president of Poland. This project aims to improve connections and cooperation between countries located between the Adriatic, Baltic, and Black Seas.
She traveled to many countries to meet with other world leaders. She met with British Prime Minister Theresa May, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, and U.S. President Donald Trump. These meetings helped strengthen Croatia's relationships with other nations.
In 2017, Forbes magazine named her the 39th most powerful woman in the world.
2018 World Cup
Grabar-Kitarović became famous around the world during the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia. She attended several matches to support the Croatian team, often wearing the red-and-white colors of the Croatian flag.
She flew to Russia in economy class and watched some games from the regular stands, not the VIP sections. The Croatian team made it all the way to the final match, where they played against France. Although Croatia lost, Grabar-Kitarović was seen hugging and congratulating every player from both teams in the pouring rain. Her enthusiastic support earned her praise from people worldwide.
2019 Re-election Campaign
In 2019, Grabar-Kitarović ran for a second term as president. She faced several challengers, including former Prime Minister Zoran Milanović. In the first round of voting, Milanović received the most votes, and Grabar-Kitarović came in second.
A run-off election was held on January 5, 2020. Zoran Milanović won the election, and Grabar-Kitarović's term as president ended on February 18, 2020.
Personal Life
Grabar-Kitarović married Jakov Kitarović in 1996. They have two children, a daughter named Katarina and a son named Luka. Katarina is a talented figure skater who was a national champion in Croatia.
Grabar-Kitarović is a practicing Roman Catholic. She speaks several languages fluently, including Croatian, English, Spanish, and Portuguese. She also has a basic understanding of German, French, and Italian.
Images for kids
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President Grabar-Kitarović with British Prime Minister Theresa May in 2016
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President Grabar-Kitarović with Israeli President Reuven Rivlin
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President Grabar-Kitarović with Polish Prime Minister Beata Szydło in 2016
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President Grabar-Kitarović with US President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump in 2018
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President Grabar-Kitarović with Russian President Vladimir Putin in 2017
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President Grabar-Kitarović with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev in 2018
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President Grabar-Kitarović with German Chancellor Angela Merkel at the EPP Summit in Zagreb, 2019
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Croatian President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović and Chilean President Sebastián Piñera in Santiago; 2018.
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Approval ratings of Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović
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See also
In Spanish: Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović para niños
- Three Seas Initiative
- List of elected and appointed female heads of state
