Fatmir Besimi (; born 18 November 1975) is a Macedonian politician and economist of

Albanian Albanian may refer to: *Pertaining to Albania in Southeast Europe; in particular: **Albanians, an ethnic group native to the Balkans **Albanian language **Albanian culture **Demographics of Albania, includes other ethnic groups within the country ...

ethnicity. He served as Minister of Finance in North Macedonia from 2020 to 2024. He also served twice as Minister of Economy (December 2004 – June 2006 and August 2008 – July 2011) then Minister of Defence (August 2011 – February 2013) and after that he was Deputy Prime Minister of the Government of the Republic of Macedonia in charge of European Affairs (March 2013 – March 2016). In 2010 he was selected as one of the top European Ministers in the group of

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Early life and education

Fatmir Besimi was born in

Tetovo Tetovo (, ; , sq-definite, Tetova) is a city in the northwestern part of North Macedonia, built on the foothills of Šar Mountain and divided by the Pena (river), Pena River. The municipality of Tetovo covers an area of at above sea level, wit ...

North Macedonia North Macedonia, officially the Republic of North Macedonia, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe. It shares land borders with Greece to the south, Albania to the west, Bulgaria to the east, Kosovo to the northwest and Serbia to the n ...

. Besimi is an ethnic Albanian. He attended school in Tetovo and studied economics at the

Ss. Cyril and Methodius University of Skopje The Saints Cyril and Methodius University () is a public university, public research university in Skopje, North Macedonia. It is the oldest and largest public university in the country. It is named after the Byzantine Empire, Byzantine Christ ...

. His research thesis was on the subject “Monetary and

Exchange Rate In finance, an exchange rate is the rate at which one currency will be exchanged for another currency. Currencies are most commonly national currencies, but may be sub-national as in the case of Hong Kong or supra-national as in the case of ...

Policy in the

Republic of Macedonia North Macedonia, officially the Republic of North Macedonia, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe. It shares land borders with Greece to the south, Albania to the west, Bulgaria to the east, Kosovo to the northwest and Serbia to the n ...

during the Process of Accession to the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

". During his studies he was a scholar of the Fund for talented students of the Ministry of Education of Republic of Macedonia, as well as user of the joint scholarship of University of Staffordshire, Great Britain and

Open Society Institute 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 ...

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

Career

In 2001 he worked in the Research Directorate in the National Bank of the Republic of Macedonia. From 2002 to 2003 he was Director of the Public Enterprise for Airport Services, after which he was selected as Vice-Governor of the National Bank of Republic of Macedonia. In December 2004 he was appointed Minister of Economy in the Government of the Republic of Macedonia. After completing his mandate as Minister of Economy he was engaged as an economist in the

World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and Grant (money), grants to the governments of Least developed countries, low- and Developing country, middle-income countries for the purposes of economic development ...

Office in Kosovo in 2007. In 2008 he received a second mandate as Minister of Economy. After the early parliamentary elections in 2011 he became the Minister of Defence in the Government of the Republic of Macedonia (the first minister from ethnical Albanian community in this position) and during that period he was a member of the National Security Council of the Republic of Macedonia. Since February 2013 Besimi was appointed as Deputy Prime Minister in charge for the European Affairs in the Government of the Republic of Macedonia. Fatmir Besimi has an active university engagement through lectures in the field of economics and global development in the post-graduate studies in the University of South-Eastern Europe in Tetovo from 2008, upon which he previously held lectures in the University Riinvest in Pristina in 2007. Besimi is the author of two books in the English language and several professional and academic articles in the field of economics and politics published in English, Albanian and Macedonian in journals in the Republic of Macedonia and abroad. In the framework of his public and state functions, Besimi was leading several governmental projects and activities, such as: Business Environment Reform and Institutional Strengthening, project by the World Bank (2005-2010); Membership of the Republic of Macedonia in CEFTA (2006); Reforms in the energy sector, restructuring of the electricity company and privatization of the electricity distribution company (2004-2006); Founding of the International Renewable Energy Agency (2009); Chairing the Energy Community of South-Eastern Europe (2010) and other strategies, projects and activities, as well as signing over ten international agreements and protocols. As Minister of Defense he was participating in the adoption of the new formation of the Army of Republic of Macedonia in accordance with NATO standards, in the promotion of Smart Defense Concept in the regional cooperation as well as the adoption of the Defense Diplomacy Strategy, Communication Strategy, ARM Equal Representation Program (promotion of the equal representation of the ethnic communities as inclusive process promoting the diversity as advantage), Gender Equality Committee, transformation of the Military Museum in Museum for Peace, Defense and Security, establishment of “Gallery of Nobel Peace Prize Winners and ARM for Peace” and other initiatives. In 2012, when he was minister of defence, he honoured killed NLA rebels at Slupčane along with other ethnic Albanian ministers, which was criticised by Macedonian president

Gjorge Ivanov Gjorge Ivanov (, ; born 2 May 1960) is a Macedonian academic and politician, who served as the President of (North) Macedonia from 2009 to 2019. Early life and education Ivanov was born in Valandovo on 2 May 1960. He finished primary and seco ...

References

External links

Faculty of Economics

Staffordshire University
{{DEFAULTSORT:Besimi, Fatmir 1975 births Living people People from Tetovo Macedonian people of Albanian descent Deputy prime ministers of North Macedonia Government ministers of North Macedonia Finance ministers of North Macedonia Alumni of Staffordshire University Democratic Union for Integration politicians Ss. Cyril and Methodius University of Skopje alumni 21st-century Albanian politicians