Besnik Bislimi (born May 19, 1971) is a Kosovo Albanian economist, academic and politician, currently serving as First Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Kosovo, in charge of European integration, development and dialogue. He is also the first vice president of the Vetëvendosje movement, and has previously served as minister of finance and member of parliament.[citation needed]

Besnik Bislimi
Besnik Bislimi, 2022
First Deputy Prime Minister of Kosovo
Assumed office
22 March 2021
PresidentGlauk Konjufca (acting)
Vjosa Osmani
Prime MinisterAlbin Kurti
Preceded byBesnik Tahiri
Minister of Finance and Transfers
In office
4 February 2020 – 3 June 2020
PresidentHashim Thaçi
Prime MinisterAlbin Kurti
Preceded byBedri Hamza
Succeeded byHykmete Bajrami
Personal details
Born (1971-05-19) 19 May 1971 (age 53)
Bukovik, Gjilan, SAP Kosovo, Yugoslavia (now Kosovo)
NationalityKosovan Albanian
Political partyVetëvendosje[1]
SpouseVenera Bislimi
Children1
EducationUniversity of Zagreb
University of Freiberg (PhD)
Georgia State University (postdoc)
Signature

Biography

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Bislimi studied macroeconomic analysis at the University of Zagreb, graduating in 1994. He received his doctorate from the University of Freiberg with a specialty in fiscal policies and transition to market economy. He was a Fulbright scholar at the Andrew Young School of Policy Studies of George State University in Atlanta, Georgia, where he completed post-doctoral studies on fiscal decentralization of developing nations.[citation needed]

Bislimi worked as an assistant for macroeconomics and public finance at the University of Freiberg for six years. He also supported the University of Prishtina with projects funded by the Stability Pact, the German DAAD and WUS Austria, served as the fiscal policy advisor of the UNDP CBF project, advisor on several GTZ projects, and FAO fiscal policy expert. Additionally, he has worked as a consultant and project manager for various institutions.[2]

Since 2004, Bislimi has been a faculty member at RIT Kosovo (formerly American University in Kosovo), where he teaches macroeconomics, fiscal policy, monetary analysis and policy, natural resource economics and microeconomics.[3] He has also served as head of the economics unit and managing director of the research center at RIT Kosovo, and taught part-time in Macedonia.[4]

In the 2014 parliamentary elections, Bislimi was elected to the Assembly of Kosovo, representing Lëvizja Vetëvendosje, and served as chairman of the public finance oversight committee. He resigned from the Assembly in June 2016.[5] He served as minister of finance in the first Kurti government in 2020,[6] and returned as first deputy prime minister in charge of European integration, development and dialogue in the second Kurti government in March 2021.[7]

References

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  1. ^ "Бесник Бислими: Белград цели Косово да стане нефункционална държава". www.24chasa.bg.
  2. ^ "Discussion with the Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Κοsovo". ΕΛΙΑΜΕΠ. 6 March 2023.
  3. ^ "Faculty Profile - Besnik Bislimi Ph.D." RIT Kosovo. Retrieved 15 May 2022.
  4. ^ "Faculty Profile - Besnik BislimiPh.D. | RIT Kosovo | RIT". www.rit.edu.
  5. ^ "Vendim nr. 19/2016, datë 13.06.2016, i Presidentit të Republikës së Kosovës, dhe shkresa përcjellëse, për zëvendësimin e deputetit Besnik Bislimi" (PDF). Kuvendi i Kosovës.
  6. ^ "Курти: Двете страни да имаат можност да преговараат од рамноправни позиции". Курти: Двете страни да имаат можност да преговараат од рамноправни позиции (in Macedonian).
  7. ^ "Bislimi: EU Plan Gives More Attention to Serbia's Demands Rather than Kosovo's". Prishtina Insight. 20 July 2023.