Pop star Dua Lipa was given citizenship by the president of Albania because she has used her international fame to promote the country.
President Bajram Begaj said he was happy to honour Lipa, whose parents were immigrants from Albania, for her musical skills and for helping to raise awareness of Albania around the world.
“Happy to give Albanian citizenship to the one and only Dua Lipa,” he said. “Her work around the world and dedication to important social causes have made us proud.”
Lipa told the Associated Press, “It is an indescribable joy to have so much acceptance, love, and everything else.” “I will also have papers that say I am Albanian.”
Lipa was born in London in 1995. Her parents came from Kosovo and moved there, so Albanian was her first language. She told NPR in April that her parents had always wanted to go back to Kosovo, and when she was 11, they all did.
She said, “It took me a long time to feel comfortable there.” “It’s interesting to do that at age 11, but I wouldn’t change it for the world because it really helped me become who I am.”
In 2016, Lipa and her father started the Sunny Hill Foundation to help people in Albania who were having trouble with money. They put on the Sunny Hill Festival every year to raise money for the foundation and help young people get involved in the arts.
When the pop star posted a picture of a “Greater Albania” flag on Twitter in 2020 to show her support for Albania, she got a lot of hate mail. The controversial flag is linked to ultra-nationalists who think that parts of Kosovo, Serbia, Greece, and North Macedonia should be added to Albania.
Lipa said that the post was misread as encouraging ethnic segregation, which she “completely rejects.”
“We should all be proud of who we are and where we come from,” she said in a statement. “All I want is for my country to be on a map and for me to be proud to talk about my Albanian roots and my mother country.”
Albania got its independence from the Ottoman Empire 110 years ago this year. The citizenship comes just in time for that anniversary.
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