Donika Kadaj Bujupi (born 20 March 1979) is a Kosovan politician who served as member of the Assembly of Kosovo from 2007 to 2021 and was appointed as an advisor to Republic of Kosovo president Vjosa Osmani in 2023. Kadaj Bujupi was a member of the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK) for most of her time as an elected official, although from 2016 to 2018 she was a member of Vetëvendosje (VV).
Early life and career Kadaj Bujupi was born in Sarajevo, in what was then the Socialist Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina in the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. When she was five years old, she moved with her family to her father's homeland of Kosovo (which was then the Socialist Autonomous Province of Kosovo in the Socialist Republic of Serbia, also part of Yugoslavia).Donika Kadaj – Member of the Assembly of Kosovo, Week of Women, 2015, accessed 30 December 2023. She holds a bachelor's degree in journalism and mass communication from AAB University (2005) and a master's degree in the same field from the Kosovo Institute of Journalism and Communication (2007).Periudha e pestë Legjislative (17.07.2014 - 10.05.2017): Donika Kadaj Bujupi, Assembly of the Republic of Kosovo, accessed 30 December 2023.
Kadaj Bujupi worked for Médecins Sans Frontières from 2000 to 2001, for the city of Pristina from 2001 to 2002, and for the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) from 2002 to 2005. From 2005 to 2007, she was a spokesperson for the Kosovo Energy Corporation.Periudha e pestë Legjislative (17.07.2014 - 10.05.2017): Donika Kadaj Bujupi, Assembly of the Republic of Kosovo, accessed 30 December 2023. In December 2005, she rejected charges that the energy corporation was discriminating against Serb communities in Kosovo."Kosovo energy corporation denies discrimination against Serb villages," British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring Europe, 29 December 2005 (Source: KosovaLive website, Pristina, in English 28 Dec 05).
Parliamentarian Alliance for the Future of Kosovo First term (2007–11) Kadaj Bujupi appeared in the thirtieth position on the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo's electoral list in the 2007 Kosovan parliamentary election. Parliamentary elections in Kosovo are held under open list proportional representation, and she finished in twelfth place among the party's candidates. The AAK won ten seats; due to a requirement for one-third female representation, she was awarded a mandate.ZGJEDHJET PËR KUVEND TË REPUBLIKËS SË KOSOVËS 2007 – Rezultatet dhe Statistikat (Rezultatet e të gjithë kandidatëve), Central Election Commission, Republic of Kosovo, p. 19, accessed 15 January 2022. The Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) and the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) formed a coalition government after the election, and the AAK served in opposition. In her first term, Kadaj Bujupi was a member of the committee for education, science, technology, culture, youth, and sports.Periudha e tretë Legjislative (13.12.2007 - 03.11.2010): Komisionet, accessed 30 December 2023. She was a serving parliamentarian in February 2008, when Kosovo's assembly and governing authorities unilaterally declared independence for the territory as the Republic of Kosovo.
In June 2008, Kadaj Bujupi accused Kosovo's ministry of mines and energy of inefficiency and a lack of strategy for overcoming an ongoing energy crisis."Kosovo energy minister rejects opposition's accusations of 'inefficiency'," British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring European, 20 June 2008 (Source: KosovaLive website, Pristina, in English 19 Jun 08).
Second term (2011–14) Kadaj Bujupi was promoted to the third position on the AAK's list in the 2010 Kosovan parliamentary election, finished fourth among the party's candidates, and was re-elected when the list won twelve seats.ZGJEDHJET E PARAKOHSHME PËR KUVENDIN E REPUBLIKËS SË KOSOVËS 2010 – Rezultatet dhe Statistikat (Rezultatet e të gjithë kandidatëve), Central Election Commission, Republic of Kosovo, p. 44, accessed 2 February 2022. The PDK won the election and formed a new government, and the AAK remained in opposition. Kadaj Bujupi served on the committee for foreign affairs.Periudha e katërt Legjislative (12.12.2010 - 07.05.2014): Komisionet, accessed 30 December 2023.
She expressed skepticism about a contract signed in late 2011 between the Kosovo government and the American firm Patton Boggs LLP to promote the international recognition of Kosovo. "Often these agreements are made for other, not state interests, and in most of the cases there is no transparency therefore suspicion is natural," she was quoted as saying."Kosovo government hires US company to boost independence recognition," British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring European, 19 November 2011 (Source: Koha Ditore, Pristina, in Albanian 14 Nov 11 pp 1, 3).
In May 2014, Kadaj Bujupi was a founding member of a working group calling for the United Nations to establish a tribunal for victims of sexual violence during the Kosovo War."Kosovo women want international court to try sexual violence during war," British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring European, 16 May 2014 (Source: RTK TV, Pristina, in Albanian 1730 gmt 15 May 14).
Third term (2014–16) Kadaj Bujupi appeared in the sixth position on the AAK's list in the 2014 Kosovan parliamentary election, again finished fourth, and was elected to a third term when the list won eleven seats.ZGJEDHJET E PARAKOHSHME PËR KUVENDIN E REPUBLIKËS SË KOSOVËS 2014 – Rezultatet dhe Statistikat (Rezultatet e të gjithë kandidatëve), Central Election Commission, Republic of Kosovo, p. 20, accessed 14 January 2022.ZGJEDHJET E PARAKOHSHME PËR KUVENDIN E REPUBLIKËS SË KOSOVËS 2014 – Rezultatet dhe Statistikat (Rezultatet e kandidatëve të zgjedhur sipas numrit të votave), Central Election Commission, Republic of Kosovo, p. 5, accessed 14 January 2022. After protracted negotiations, the PDK, LDK, and smaller parties formed a new coalition government, and the AAK remained in opposition. Kadaj Bujupi was chosen as leader of the party's assembly group after the election."Kosovo opposition parties yet to adopt unified position on assembly's boycott," British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring European, 15 March 2016 (Source: Koha Ditore, Pristina, in Albanian 12 Mar 16; pp 1, 3).
In early 2015, Kadaj Bujupi introduced a seventeen-point draft resolution targeting illegal emigration from Kosovo to European Union (EU) countries."Experts warn of alarming trend of Kosovo citizens' illegal migration to West," British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring European, 4 February 2015 (Source: Koha Ditore, Pristina, in Albanian 2 Feb 15 pp 1, 3). The resolution was approved by the assembly in a special plenary session on 6 February 2015."Kosovo Assembly adopts resolution on preventing illegal migration," British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring European, 9 February 2015 (Source: Koha Ditore, Pristina, in Albanian 6 Feb 15 p 2).
Kadaj Bujupi was one of a number of parliamentarians who opened tear gas canisters in the assembly in October 2015, in protest against the Republic of Kosovo government's planned association agreement with Serbia and border resolution agreement with Montenegro.Florent Bajrami, "Kosovo opposition's tear gas disrupts parliament work," Associated Press Newswires, 23 October 2015. The following month, she and two other opposition parliamentarians set off another canister in a hallway that government delegates were using as an exit following a budget vote."Kosovo daily details 17 November violence inside, outside parliament," British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring European, 20 November 2015 (Source: Koha Ditore, Pristina, in Albanian 18 Nov 15 pp 1, 2-3). She was subsequently placed under house arrest for a time."Little-known group claims responsibility for setting fire to vehicles in Kosovo," British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring European, 15 December 2015 (Source: Text of report by Kosovo Albanian privately-owned newspaper Koha Ditore on 14 December). She defended her actions at a press conference in January 2016, describing the government's proposed agreements as unconstitutional and the government itself as illegitimate."Kosovo opposition parties announce "peaceful" protests until government resigns," British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring European, 7 January 2016 (Source: Koha Ditore, Pristina, in Albanian 6 Jan 16 pp 1,3).
Vetëvendosje (2016–18) Kadaj Bujupi resigned from the AAK in March 2016, after the party's decision to end its participation in the tear gas protests, and joined Vetëvendosje shortly thereafter."Donika Kadaj Bujupi jep dorëheqje nga AAK-ja", Rajoni Press, 24 March 2016, accessed 30 December 2023."DONIKA KADAJ-BUJUPI KALON NË VV PËR HIR TË PARIMEVE ", Insajderi, 2016, accessed 30 December 2023."Donika Kadaj-Bujupi leaves Vetevendosje, returns to Haradinaj’s AAK", Prishtina Insight, 14 March 2018, accessed 30 December 2023. In 2016–17, she was a member of the stabilization and association committee and the committee on European integration.Periudha e pestë Legjislative (17.07.2014 - 10.05.2017): Komisionet, Assembly of Kosovo, accessed 30 December 2023.
She appeared in the ninth position on Vetëvendosje's list in the 2017 Kosovan parliamentary election, finished tenth among the party's candidates, and was re-elected when the list won thirty-two seats.ZGJEDHJET E PARAKOHSHME PËR KUVENDIN E REPUBLIKËS SË KOSOVËS 2017 – Rezultatet dhe Statistikat (Rezultatet e kandidatëve sipas subjekteve të renditur sipas numrit të votave), Central Election Commission, Republic of Kosovo, p. 24. A PDK–AAK coalition won the election, and Vetëvendosje emerged as the largest party in opposition.
In January 2018, Kadaj Bujupi and fellow Vetëvendosje parliamentarians Albin Kurti, Albulena Haxhiu, and Faton Topalli received suspended sentences of up to eighteen months for their previous actions in the Kosovo parliament. Under the terms of the ruling, they would not be required to serve jail time if they refrained from committing the same crime for a two-year probationary period."Kosovo court finds 4 opposition MPs guilty of using tear gas," Canadian Press, 3 January 2018.
Return to the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (2018–2021) Vetëvendosje experienced serious internal divisions after Albin Kurti was chosen as party leader in January 2018, and in March of that year Kadaj Bujupi returned to the AAK."Donika Kadaj-Bujupi leaves Vetevendosje, returns to Haradinaj’s AAK", Prishtina Insight, 14 March 2018, accessed 30 December 2023. The party was part of Kosovo's coalition government at this time, and she served as a government supporter in the legislature. Kadaj Bujupi was a member of the European integration committee and a commission of inquiry on expenses by the presidency and the government of Kosovo.Periudha e gjashtë Legjislative (03.08.2017 - 22.08.2019): Komisionet, accessed 30 December 2023.