Europaudvalget 2013-14
EUU Alm.del Bilag 282
Offentligt
Biography of Mr. Ilir MetaSpeaker of the Parliament of AlbaniaIlir Meta is the Speaker of the Parliament of the Republic of Albania, elected on September 10th2013.He was born on March 24, 1969 in Skrapar, Albania, andgraduated in Political Economy at the Faculty of Economics,University of Tirana in 1992, where he also pursued hispostgraduate studies.Ilir Meta, former Prime Minister of Albania and current Speakerand also Member of the Albanian Parliament, is also the Leader ofthe Socialist Movement for Integration of Albania (LSI) establishedin September 2004, currently part of the governing coalition ofAlbania led by the Socialist Party of Albania.During the previous parliamentary legislature, Mr. Meta served as Deputy Prime Minister andMinister of Foreign Affairs as well as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy, Tradeand Energy of the Republic of Albania. Prior to that, he held the Chairmanship of theParliamentary Commission of European Integration.Ilir Meta has been engaged in politics since 1990 as an active participant in the students’movement against communism that brought political pluralism in Albania.Since 1992 he has been elected Member of Parliament in all legislatures and has been an activemember of several Parliamentary Commissions.From 1996 to 1997 he was Deputy Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Commission of the AlbanianParliament.During the period of October 1998 – October 1999, Ilir Meta held the office of Deputy PrimeMinister and Minister of Coordination, as well as that of State Secretary for EuropeanIntegration in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs during March – October 1998.
In November 1999, Ilir Meta became Prime Minister of the Republic of Albania and after thegeneral parliamentary elections he won a second mandate, lasting from September 2001 untilFebruary 2002. During this period, Albania engaged in a range of important reforms, joining theProcess of Stabilization and Association Agreement (SAA) with the European Union.From 2004 to 2006, Mr. Ilir Meta was elected member of the International Commission on theBalkans, chaired by the former Italian Prime Minister, Giuliano Amato. The Commission drafteda series of important recommendations towards the integration of the Western Balkancountries into the European Union.During the period of 2009 – 2011, Ilir Meta served as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister ofForeign Affairs and later in the position of Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy,Trade and Energy.He was an early and strong campaigner for the liberalization of visas with the Schengen area,which was accomplished in 2010 to the benefit of all citizens of Albania.He remains one of the strongest campaigners and advocates of regional and Europeanintegration for all countries of the Western Balkans, as a means to further strengthen stabilityand peace in the region.In March 2012, Ilir Meta was honoured with the “MostPositive Personality in Foreign Policy for2010”Award by the International Institute for Middle‐East and Balkan Studies (IFIMES), duringa ceremony in Ljubljana, Slovenia. The award was presented by former President of CroatiaStjepan Mesic.During the last LSI National Electoral Convention in October 2012, Ilir Meta was re‐elected foranother mandate as Chairman of the Socialist Movement for Integration.Ilir Meta has been lecturer at the Economic Faculty of Tirana University. He has also lectured atseveral renowned universities and academies overseas, including Harvard University, LondonSchool of Economics and the European Academy in Berlin.Ilir Meta speaks Albanian, English and Italian. He is married to Monika Kryemadhi. They havetwo daughters and a son, Bora, Era and Besar.