Albanian-born artist Dua Lipa has shown that in addition to international success in music, she is a powerful voice on issues related to women. This is one of the many reasons she was honored with an award for outstanding leadership role on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the well-known American organization, the Atlantic Council. In an exclusive interview with VOA, Dua Lipa explains why this award is important to her and her plans for the future.
The world-famous Albanian artist, Dua Lipa, was honored with an award for outstanding leadership role in addressing important issues such as women's rights, shared by the Atlantic Council, on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of this American organization.
She was praised for her activism in the empowerment of women, the protection of human rights, especially the victims of the Balkan wars, her contribution to the empowerment of the new state of Kosovo, humanism, inspiration and the creation of new opportunities for her. young people as well as the hope he gave during the pandemic by developing virtual activities even when the world was in isolation.
In an interview with VOA, artist Dua Lipa spoke about the importance of this award, which he dedicated to the youth of Kosovo.
" I am very honored to be here today, to accept this award. On behalf of all the young people of Kosovo, Kosovo and the fact that we are such a small country for only 13 years with a chance to maybe one day become part of Europe. This really is part of my journey, my battle, and my reason for being here. That is why I am very grateful to be here and to talk about something that is in my heart ", says Dua Lipa in an interview for VOA.
With great passion Dua Lipa also spoke about the film Hive, the film that is proposed to be one of the nominees for the prestigious Oscars.
Dua used her arrival in Washington to help promote the emotional film from Kosovo that has attracted much international attention.
" It was a miracle. I am very touched by the story of Fahrije Hoti, the woman on whose story the film is based. It shows how persistent and powerful the women of Kosovo are, especially at a time when although they have lost a lot they managed to find a way to continue and struggled to achieve something they felt was right for them. It was very inspiring and I was very honored to be at the screening of the film with many other powerful and wonderful women. "I look forward to it and hope to secure an Oscar nomination," said the well-known artist.
Dua, together with her father Dukagjin Lipa, run the Sunny Hill Foundation and the festival of the same name held in Pristina, thanks to which Kosovo has been included in the world map of culture. Artist Lipa announced the strong return of the festival after a break due to the pandemic.
“Yes. I am very excited about the return of the Sunny Hill festival this coming summer. It will be great fun for three and maybe even four days. We have a wonderful list of artists that we are looking forward to. We also worked hard during the pandemic to determine the next steps. We are increasing the festival. The location will change, so that we have more visitors from all over the world. "As for new projects, I am working on a new album, which I am also looking forward to," she said.
Eight-time nominee and three-time Grammy Award winner Dua Lipa spoke about Kosovo in her speech after receiving the award from the Atlantic Council.
She used this moment to demand free movement for the citizens of Kosovo.
" Today Kosovo continues to face many challenges and it is usually the younger generations who carry their burden. Young people face employment difficulties and their opportunities are hampered by constraints that make travel difficult for work or pleasure. After we met all the criteria, the European Commission recommended visa liberalization for Kosovo, more than three years ago. Therefore, do you think we can finish this now? ” Said Dua Lipa.
Also present at this event was the President of Kosovo, Vjosa Osmani, who called Dua Lipen the best ambassador of her country.
She invited guests to the ceremony to visit Kosovo.
" You who have never visited Kosovo, I urge you to visit it to see its beauty, uniqueness, warmth and admiration of my people for your countries. For the countries that stood by us in our darkest days, especially the United States of America. You've heard it before. "But Kosovo is really the most pro-American country and the most pro-European country in the world", says the President of Kosovo.
Ms. Osmani described Kosovo as the most successful narrative of American foreign policy.
" Kosovo is a beacon of hope, and a beacon of democracy. Just 13 years after our declaration of independence today we have the institutional stability that many countries can simply dream of, joining our allies in peacekeeping missions and being honored to be among the few countries that provided shelter for Afghans fleeing persecution. "We are the first to respond to that call because we were refugees ourselves", says Mrs. Osmani.
In addition to artist Dua Lipa, the Atlantic Council honored European Commission President Ursula Von Der Leyen, Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla and Dr. Ugur Sahin and Dr. Ozlem Tureqi of the biotechnology company BionTech with outstanding leadership roles.
