Durkovic was born in Zagreb, Croatia, in 1974 and lived with her family in Sarajevo. Her mother, of Macedonian origin, and her father, of Montenegrin descent, were both refugees during World War II. Shortly before the Bosnian War broke out in 1991, Durkovic was in the United States in Halifax County High School on a student exchange program living with a family of local attorneys. As the war progressed she could not return to BiH, and she gained refugee status in America and graduated from Halifax County High School. On April 22, 1992, she lost contact with her family in Sarajevo during the siege of that city. Their next communication was 15 months later. Durkovic returned to Bosnia and Herzegovina in 2002.