Mimi Kodheli
33rd Defence Minister of Albania
In office
15 September 2013 (2013-09-15) – 11 September 2017 (2017-09-11)
PresidentBujar Nishani
Ilir Meta
Prime MinisterEdi Rama
Preceded byArben Imami
Succeeded byOlta Xhaçka
Member of Parliament
Assumed office
7 September 2009 (2009-09-07)
Prime MinisterEdi Rama
Sali Berisha
Vice President of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly
Assumed office
23 November 2020 (2020-11-23)
Personal details
Born (1964-09-11) 11 September 1964
Tirana, Albania
Political partySocialist Party of Albania
SpouseLeka Kodheli
ChildrenMikel Kodheli
Alma materUniversity of Tirana
University of Nebraska–Lincoln, United States (MPA)[lower-alpha 1]
University of Verona, Italy (Ph.D.)
Signature

Mimi Kodheli (born 11 September 1964) is an Albanian economist and politician who served as Minister of Defense of Albania in the government of Prime Minister Edi Rama. She was the first woman to be appointed to the post.[1]

Early life and education

Kodheli was born in Tirana, on 11 September 1964.

She received a Doctorate in Economic Science at the University of Verona, Italy, in cooperation with the University of Tirana, Economic Faculty, in 2007. She has a master degree in Public Administration from the Lincoln University in Nebraska, United States, in cooperation with University of Tirana since 2000, and also graduated from the University of Tirana, Economic Faculty, in Finance in 1986. She has studied in various fields such as, international markets, bond and assets, labour and investment markets, trainings on small and medium enterprises and banking management. She has participated in a programme of the U.S. State Department, "Women in Politics", and in the National Security Policy programme of the Marshall European Centre for Security Studies

She speaks fluent English and Italian, and knows the French and Spanish languages.

Career

Kodheli entered politics in 2002, when she was appointed Deputy Mayor of the Tirana Municipality. In 2005, she was appointed Prefect of the Tirana County.

Since the 2009 national elections, Kodheli has been a Member of Parliament holding the position of Vice Chair of the Economy and Finance Committee throughout the legislature. Since 2007, she is a member of the Socialist Party of Albania leadership.

Kodheli was appointed Minister of Defense in the government of Prime Minister Edi Rama on 15 September 2013, replacing Arben Imami in the post.[2] In this capacity, she joined forces with her Croatian counterpart Damir Krstičević and wrote a letter to NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg in 2017, calling on NATO to revise plans for its peace-keeping mission in Kosovo and arguing that nationalist rhetoric by Serb politicians threatens to destabilise the region scarred by the 1990s wars.[3]

Since 2017, Kodheli has been serving as chairwoman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs.

Personal life

Kodheli is married. She has a son, Mikel.

Notes

  1. ↑ Acronym preferred by the University of Nebraska

References

  1. ↑ "Women Given Unprecedented Role In Albania Cabinet". Eurasia Review. 1 August 2013. Archived from the original on 2 October 2013. Retrieved 27 August 2013.
  2. ↑ Nicholas de Larrinaga (16 September 2013). "New Albanian defence minister appointed". IHS Jane's Defence Weekly. London. Archived from the original on 23 February 2014. Retrieved 15 February 2014.
  3. ↑ Benet Koleka (February 16, 2017), Albania, Croatia ask NATO to revise Kosovo peacekeeping plan Archived 2018-10-28 at the Wayback Machine Reuters.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Mimi Kodheli.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.