Mimi Kodheli

Mimi Kodheli
Mimi Kodheli
Minister of Defence
	In office; 15 September 2013 – 11 September 2017
President	Bujar Nishani; Ilir Meta
Prime Minister	Edi Rama
Preceded by	Arben Imami
Succeeded by	Olta Xhaçka
Member of Parliament
	In office; 7 September 2009 – Incumbent
Prime Minister	Edi Rama ; Sali Berisha
Vice President of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly
	In office; 23 November 2020 – Incumbent
Personal details
Born	11 September 1964; Tirana, Albania
Nationality	Albanian
Political party	Socialist Party of Albania
Spouse(s)	Leka Kodheli
Children	Mikel Kodheli
Alma mater	University 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 destabilize the region scarred by the 1990s wars.[3]

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

Plagiarism Scandal

In October 2018, many public figures and politicians in Albania were involved in a plagiarism scandal, involving their Masters and Ph.D. theses. The name of Mimi Kodheli was one of the many mentioned in the scandal. The denouncement of cases of plagiarism started by Taulant Muka, a young epidemiologist educated in the Netherlands, who waged a crusade against the “fake” PhDs held by many politicians and government functionaries.[4] This scandal among other things, sparked nationwide protests from the students of public universities, requiring a vetting for all academic titles held by public figures, state officials and politicians.

Personal life

Kodheli is married to Leka and they have a son, Mikel.

Notes

Acronym preferred by the University of Nebraska

References

"Women Given Unprecedented Role In Albania Cabinet". Eurasia Review. 1 August 2013. Archived from the original on 2 October 2013. Retrieved 27 August 2013.
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.
Benet Koleka (February 16, 2017), Albania, Croatia ask NATO to revise Kosovo peacekeeping plan Archived 2018-10-28 at the Wayback Machine Reuters.
Exit.al (25 December 2018). "Massive plagiarism scandal hits Albanian officials". Archived from the original on 30 December 2018. Retrieved 30 December 2018.

External links

Official Website of the Albanian Council of Ministers

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[1] Acronym preferred by the University of Nebraska

[2] "Women Given Unprecedented Role In Albania Cabinet". Eurasia Review. 1 August 2013. Archived from the original on 2 October 2013. Retrieved 27 August 2013.

[ihs-3] 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.

[4] Benet Koleka (February 16, 2017), Albania, Croatia ask NATO to revise Kosovo peacekeeping plan Archived 2018-10-28 at the Wayback Machine Reuters.

[5] Exit.al (25 December 2018). "Massive plagiarism scandal hits Albanian officials". Archived from the original on 30 December 2018. Retrieved 30 December 2018.