|
Lulzim Basha was born in Tirana on June 12, 1974. After
attending the Sami Frashėri High School, he studied law at
Utrecht University in the Netherlands and worked for the
International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia
(19981999). While working there, he contributed to the file
against former Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic. He later
worked for the Department of Justice of the UN administration of
Kosovo[a], UNMIK (20002005), before entering Albanian politics.
Basha joined the Democratic Party of Albania in January 2005
and became a member of the party's Presidency in May of that
year. He served as party's Spokeman during the 2005
parliamentary elections at which he was elected to the Albanian
Parliament as the MP of Constituency no. 33 in Tirana.
After the 2005 parliamentary elections, Lulzim Basha became
Minister of Public Works, Transport and Telecommunications where
he served for a period of two years, until he was appointed
Minister of Foreign Affairs in 2007.[2] As Minister of Public
Works, Transport and Telecommunications Basha initiated the
major infrastructural work, Durrės-Kukes Highway, in the
Albanian history, involving the construction of 5.6 km tunnel.
In 2007 the Chief Prosecutor of Albania Theodhori Sollaku asked
the parliament to lift Basha's immunity from prosecution so he
could begin an investigation into possible political corruption
and abuse of power charges. This was in regard to the awarding
of Durrės-Kukes highway construction contract to a U.S.-Turkish
joint venture.[3] Basha said that the charges were politically
motivated, although he asked the Parliament to lift his immunity
and consequently the Supreme Court of Albania relieved him of
all the charges.
Basha served as Minister of Foreign Affairs from May 2007 until
his appointment as Minister of Interior in September 2009.
During his term, Albania was admitted to NATO, applied for EU
membership and started the dialogue to secure visa free travel
for its citizens to the Schengen countries.
|