International pop star Dua Lipa was granted the title of Honorary Ambassador of the Republic of Kosovo, as per an announcement both she and Kosovar president Vjosa Osmani made on Instagram.
The 26-year-old, born in London to immigrants from the former Yugoslavia, lived in the newly independent Balkan nation as a teenager from the age of 13 to 15.
Next to a series of official photographs from the ceremony, Lipa wrote “it’s an honour and a privilege to be able to represent my country all over the world and to continue my work and efforts globally to see that we leave our mark and make a difference. The youth of Kosovo deserves the right to visa liberalization, freedom to travel and to dream big.”
The president also shared images via Instagram. Some were the same (with a different aspect ratio!), and others included more hugs with children.
As per Billboard, Osmani’s caption included recognition of Lipa’s father, Dukagjin Lipa, a former musician turned music producer and promoter. The Lipa père et fille are currently in the midst of the third annual Sunny Hill Festival, which began in the nation’s capital of Pristina in 2018. (The 2020 and 2021 editions were called off due to the coronavirus pandemic.)
There was a little tension earlier in the year when it looked like the festival, which can draw up to 15,000 people daily, might move to neighboring Albania, but instead, all parties worked out a brilliant strategy: why not hold two festivals? As such, the Pristina event ran from August 4 through the 7th, and a second wave will hit Tirana, Albania on August 26 through August 28th.
The fest’s website is a little unclear currently about who will be performing later in August, but the recent run in Pristina included a slew of international performers including AJ Tracey, J Balvin, Mahmood, Diplo, Skepta, and, naturally, Dua Lipa herself.
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