From NATO:  Ambassador Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović took up her position as NATO’s Assistant Secretary General for Public Diplomacy on 4 July 2011. 

Having previously served as Croatia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and European Integration and, more recently, as Ambassador of Croatia to the United States (2008 – 2011), Ambassador Grabar-Kitarović is well-versed in Euro-Atlantic diplomacy and security issues.

In November 2003, Ambassador Grabar-Kitarović was elected to the Croatian Parliament and in December 2003, she became the Minister of European Integration. She was sworn in as Croatia’s Foreign Minister in February 2005, her central task being to guide the country into the European Union and NATO.

Ambassador Grabar-Kitarović speaks Croatian, English, Spanish and Portuguese fluently.

She is the first woman ever to be appointed Assistant Secretary General of NATO.  (photo:  NATO)