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Cem Özdemir’s Secret Valentine’s Wedding Puts Flavia Zaka in Spotlight

Zaka’s activist résumé is now central to Özdemir’s public image.

Overview

  • Cem Özdemir and Flavia Zaka married shortly after midnight on February 14 at Tübingen’s town hall in a ceremony arranged and officiated by Mayor Boris Palmer and initially kept quiet for security reasons.
  • Zaka is a Canadian jurist who emigrated from Albania at age 12 and worked in Toronto on environmental and human-rights issues, including anti–human trafficking projects for government bodies and NGOs.
  • The couple met in 2023 at a friend’s birthday party where they first connected on the dance floor, and they have lived together in Stuttgart since late summer 2025.
  • Özdemir says his children welcome the relationship and that Zaka has a strong bond with them and a good relationship with his former wife, presenting a harmonious blended family.
  • With Özdemir leading the Greens in the Baden-Württemberg election, profiles cast Zaka as a potential First Lady, and she says she will continue social engagement regardless of the vote’s outcome.