Ditmir Bushati (born 24 March 1977) is an Albanian politician and diplomat who served as

Minister of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and foreign relations, relations, diplomacy, bilateralism, ...

from 2013 to 2019. He previously chaired the Parliamentary Committee for European Integration.

Early life and education

Bushati was born in

Shkodër Shkodër ( , ; sq-definite, Shkodra; historically known as Scodra or Scutari) is the List of cities and towns in Albania, fifth-most-populous city of Albania and the seat of Shkodër County and Shkodër Municipality. Shkodër has been List of o ...

Albania Albania ( ; or ), officially the Republic of Albania (), is a country in Southeast Europe. It is located in the Balkans, on the Adriatic Sea, Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea, and shares land borders with Montenegro to ...

on March 24, 1977. Bushati graduated from the Faculty of Law of the

University of Tirana The University of Tirana (, abbreviated UT) is a public university located at the central borough of Tirana 10 in Tirana, Albania. It was established as the State University of Tirana (SUT) in 1957 through merging of five existing institutes ...

in 1999 with the highest honors, and he received a master's degree in

Public International Law International law, also known as public international law and the law of nations, is the set of Rule of law, rules, norms, Customary law, legal customs and standards that State (polity), states and other actors feel an obligation to, and generall ...

(LL.M) from

Leiden University Leiden University (abbreviated as ''LEI''; ) is a Public university, public research university in Leiden, Netherlands. Established in 1575 by William the Silent, William, Prince of Orange as a Protestantism, Protestant institution, it holds the d ...

in the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

in 2001. Bushati was a Research Fellow in Public International Law at TMC Asser Institute, in

the Hague The Hague ( ) is the capital city of the South Holland province of the Netherlands. With a population of over half a million, it is the third-largest city in the Netherlands. Situated on the west coast facing the North Sea, The Hague is the c ...

. He spent also one year as a TEMPUS Fellow in Greece at the European Public Law Centre of the

University of Athens The National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA; , ''Ethnikó kai Kapodistriakó Panepistímio Athinón''), usually referred to simply as the University of Athens (UoA), is a public university in Athens, Greece, with various campuses alo ...

, specializing in EU Law, and has received a diploma from the Kennedy School of Government of

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

and from the Academy of American and International Law,

Dallas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

and Abo Academy University, Finland. Bushati has lectured on European Law and the EU enlargement process at different institutions and universities in

and

Kosovo Kosovo, officially the Republic of Kosovo, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe with International recognition of Kosovo, partial diplomatic recognition. It is bordered by Albania to the southwest, Montenegro to the west, Serbia to the ...

. He has published numerous scientific papers and articles in areas related to the EU enlargement process, public international law and European law. He is fluent in English and

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

, and has good knowledge of French.

Career

Civil society positions

Prior to his political career Ditmir Bushati was a civil society leader and a Founding Director of the

European Movement The European Movement International is a lobbying association that coordinates the efforts of associations and national councils with the goal of promoting European integration, and disseminating information about it. History Initially the Euro ...

Albania (EMA). He is a member of European Council on Foreign Affairs and has also served as analyst for

Freedom House Freedom House is a nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C. It is best known for political advocacy surrounding issues of democracy, Freedom (political), political freedom, and human rights. Freedom House was founded in October 1941, wi ...

(2007-2008) for the Nations in Transition Report, National Reporter for the European Society of International Law (ESIL), and National Coordinator of the

Open Society Foundations Open Society Foundations (OSF), formerly the Open Society Institute, is an American grantmaking network founded by business magnate George Soros. Open Society Foundations financially supports civil society groups around the world, with the s ...

' project monitoring Albania's progress in the

European integration European integration is the process of political, legal, social, regional and economic integration of states wholly or partially in Europe, or nearby. European integration has primarily but not exclusively come about through the European Union ...

process (2006-2008). He has worked as consultant for various projects of the EU, WB, USAID, GIZ, OSI, Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, IOM, SNV.

Civil service

Ditmir Bushati served as Director for Legal Approximation at the Albanian Ministry of European Integration. In that capacity he was part of the team negotiating the Stabilization and Association Agreement with the European Union (SAA). Bushati worked as Advisor on European Affairs to the Deputy Prime Minister, as Legal Advisor to the Constitutional Court, the Office of the President of the Republic of Albania and the

International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) was a body of the United Nations that was established to prosecute the war crimes in the Yugoslav Wars, war crimes that had been committed during the Yugoslav Wars and to tr ...

Political career

Standing as a candidate of the

Socialist Party of Albania The Socialist Party of Albania (, PSSh), also known as simply the Socialist Party (, PS), is a Social democracy, social-democratic centre-left political party in Albania. It is the successor to the Party of Labour of Albania, which reconstituted ...

, Bushati was first elected as a Member of Parliament for the Tirana District in the 2009 parliamentary election. He was re-elected in the June 2013 parliamentary elections for the same district. As an MP, he chaired the Parliamentary Committee for European Integration (2011-2013) and was a member of the Joint EU-Albania Parliamentary Committee (2009-2013). In November 2011, Bushati was elected as a Member of the Steering Committee of the Socialist Party. He served as

from September 2013, when he replaced Aldo Bumçi, to December 2018, when he was replaced by Gent Cakaj. In August 2016, he met with Chinese State Councilor Yang Jiechi at

Zhongnanhai Zhongnanhai () is a compound that houses the offices of and serves as a residence for the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the State Council of the People's Republic of China, State Council. It was a former imperial gard ...

to discussion Albania-Chinese relations In January 2017, he called for cooperation with

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

in matters concerning energy, agriculture, and tourism after a two-day stay in

Tehran Tehran (; , ''Tehrân'') is the capital and largest city of Iran. It is the capital of Tehran province, and the administrative center for Tehran County and its Central District (Tehran County), Central District. With a population of around 9. ...

Later career

In 2020, the government of Prime Minister Rama nominated Bushati as its candidate for the post as Representative on Freedom of the Media of the

Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) is a regional security-oriented intergovernmental organization comprising member states in Europe, North America, and Asia. Its mandate includes issues such as arms control, the p ...

(OSCE).

Other activities

European Council on Foreign Relations The European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR) is a pan-European think tank with offices in seven European capitals. Launched in October 2007, it conducts research on European foreign and security policy and provides a meeting space for decis ...

(ECFR), MemberMembers

Personal life

He is married to Aida Bushati and they have two children, Hera and Martin. Ditmir Bushati is the great grandson of Süleyman Bushati. He is a part of the Bushati family a feudal Albanian family in the Ottoman era.

References

External links

Bushati's Twitter profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bushati, Ditmir 1977 births Government ministers of Albania Foreign ministers of Albania Leiden University alumni Living people Members of the Parliament of Albania People from Shkodër Socialist Party of Albania politicians University of Tirana alumni 21st-century Albanian politicians Ditmir