Kosovo has granted citizenship to former U.S. Congressman Joe DioGuardi and his wife, Shirley Cloyes DioGuardi, in recognition of their longstanding support for Kosovo and the rights of Albanians.
Acting President of Kosovo Albulena Haxhiu presented the citizenship decrees to the couple during a special ceremony, praising their advocacy for Kosovo long before the country declared independence.
“Joseph and Shirley DioGuardi are among those friends who stood by Kosovo before its name found a place on the agenda of American politics,” Haxhiu said, highlighting the couple’s decades-long commitment to the Albanian cause.
Haxhiu recalled Joe DioGuardi’s political involvement in raising the issue of Albanian rights in the former Yugoslavia. In 1986, while serving in the U.S. Congress, DioGuardi raised concerns over violations of the rights of Albanians in Yugoslavia at a time when Kosovo received limited attention in Washington.
She said his advocacy continued after he left Congress, particularly through the establishment of the Albanian American Civic League in 1989.
According to Haxhiu, DioGuardi returned to Kosovo, met political and intellectual figures involved in the Albanian resistance and, together with the late U.S. Congressman Tom Lantos, openly challenged the policies of Slobodan Milošević.
Haxhiu also credited the DioGuardis with helping establish important links between Kosovo and influential U.S. lawmakers, including Bob Dole, Ben Gilman and Claiborne Pell.
“At that time, Kosovo had neither an embassy in Washington nor state diplomacy to represent it. Our diaspora and friends like you filled that gap as much as they could,” Haxhiu said.
She also highlighted Shirley Cloyes DioGuardi’s role in documenting and advocating for Kosovo through writing, analysis, congressional testimony and meetings with policymakers and diplomats.
Haxhiu noted that Joe and Shirley DioGuardi testified in The Hague in 2002 during the trial of former Serbian president Slobodan Milošević before the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia.
She described their testimony and advocacy as an important contribution to documenting abuses committed against Kosovo Albanians and raising international awareness of the situation in Kosovo.
Thanking the couple for their support during what she described as some of Kosovo’s most difficult periods, Haxhiu said the citizenship represented a symbolic recognition of their longstanding relationship with the country.
“You were friends of Kosovo long before it became a state. From today, you are also its citizens,” Haxhiu said.
She welcomed Joe and Shirley DioGuardi as citizens of the Republic of Kosovo and described the occasion as a particular honor.
