She served as Deputy Director of the Kosovo Police,[1] holding the rank of General Lieutenant Colonel, the most senior among women officers in Southeastern Europe.

[4] She also received extensive professional training at the George C. Marshall European Centre for Security Studies in Germany and the FBI National Academy in the United States, and a postgraduate Certification in Crime Science at the University of Virginia in the U.S.A., in 2007.

While serving in the Kosovo Police, she drew the attention of American officers and diplomats who presented her before senior U.S. officials on special occasions as a representative of a new generation of Kosovar civil servants.

In her inaugural address, Jahjaga stated that her main goal as the President is to put Kosovo on a safe path toward membership into the European Union and the United Nations.

[11] Since taking office in April 2011, President Jahjaga has sought to strengthen the democratic institutions of the country and has helped to build and to secure greater international recognition for Kosovo.

Jahjaga has contributed to changing Kosovo’s image abroad,[12] promoting European and Euro-Atlantic agenda, reconciliation and tolerance, normalization of relations with neighboring countries,[13] and attracting foreign investment.

[14] She has redefined the role of the President in building pluralistic and democratic life of Kosovo, and continuously implemented the constitutional principles that form the basis of democracy.

[21] Due to the efforts led by Jahjaga to ensure a democratic process, according to international monitors, the elections of 2013 and 2014 were fair and inclusive, drawing to the ballot boxes for the first time the citizens of Serb municipalities in the north of the country.

[24] U.S. President Barack Obama, on the occasion of Kosovo's Independence Day, congratulated Jahjaga for her "leadership and resolve in working with party leaders during the extended government-formation process.

President Jahjaga during this process held regular meetings with opposition leaders, civil society and media to ensure transparency and to seek wider consensus on a national issue.

[29] At its first meeting, President Jahjaga and EU Commissioner for Enlargement, Stefan Fule, launched the Feasibility Study for Stabilisation and Association Agreement between the Republic of Kosovo and the European Union.

[31] Jahjaga has consistently helped coordinate institutions efficiently and accelerate the implementation of technical criteria as part of the Dialogue on visa liberalization with the European Union.

[50] President Jahjaga signed a 22 million euro donation by Sheikha Bint Mubarak of the United Arab Emirates for a Pediatric Surgical Hospital building within the University Clinical Center of Kosovo.

In 2013, she visited the Serb Orthodox Monastery of Dečani and its clergy for the celebration of Easter, calling on all the citizens of Kosovo to continue to cultivate the inter-religious tolerance that has prevailed in the country.

Thousands in Kosovo and abroad responded to the President's call to donate dresses in a sign of solidarity with survivors of sexual violence during the war.

[56] The event gained worldwide attention and was covered by all major world media, including the New York Times, Washington Post, The Guardian and dozens of international television.

Jahjaga led the efforts to make Kosovo an eligible country for the U.S. Government's Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) development funds.

[59][60] At its quarterly meeting on 16 December 2015, the Millennium Challenge Corporation Board of Directors voted to make Kosovo eligible for a compact, MCC large-scale investment program.

The general goal of the Jahjaga Foundation is the democratic development of Kosovo and the Balkans, through social inclusion and support for marginalized groups, as a precondition for peacebuilding in the region.