42 Facts About Behgjet Pacolli

Behgjet Pacolli was one of the signatories of the 2008 Kosovo declaration of independence.

Behgjet Pacolli is the major shareholder of Mabetex Group, a Swiss-based construction and civil engineering company.

Behgjet Pacolli is the president of the third biggest political party in Kosovo, the New Kosovo Alliance.

Behgjet Pacolli has acted as a mediator in hostage recovery situations.

Behgjet Pacolli is the son of Isa and Nazmije, the second of ten children.

Behgjet Pacolli completed his primary education in Marec and high school in Prishtina.

Behgjet Pacolli is Kosovo Albanian by ethnicity but has Swiss citizenship as well.

Behgjet Pacolli went to graduate school at the Mosinger Zurich Institute, where he received his master's degree in marketing and management.

Behgjet Pacolli speaks various foreign languages, including English, French, German, Italian, Russian, Spanish, and Serbian.

In 1974, Behgjet Pacolli started his career as a foreign language correspondent and deputy director for development at the Textile Enterprise in Gjilan.

Behgjet Pacolli held this position until 1975 when he left Kosovo to move to the West to pursue career opportunities.

From 1976 to 1980, Behgjet Pacolli held important management positions in several companies, such as commercial director for regional development of the company Peter Zimmer in Kufstein, Austria, commercial director of Interplastica Project Engineering in Morbio Inf.

From 1992 until 1999, Behgjet Pacolli's Mabetex worked on several projects in Russia during the Yeltsin era.

Behgjet Pacolli was later accused of having bribed Yeltsin because he had guaranteed credit cards to the Yeltsin family.

Later, Behgjet Pacolli began business activities in Kazakhstan, where he worked with Mabetex in constructing new buildings in Astana.

Since Kosovo declared independence in February 2008, Behgjet Pacolli has been working to convince other countries to officially recognize Kosovo as an independent country.

Behgjet Pacolli has been continuing his lobbying activities all around the world, where he has met senior leaders of world countries in an attempt to convince them to recognize Kosovo's independence.

Behgjet Pacolli became a deputy in the Assembly of Kosovo and a member of the Committee for Budget and Finance.

On 22 February 2011, Behgjet Pacolli was elected the 3rd president of the Republic of Kosovo.

Behgjet Pacolli went on two out-of-the-country visits as the president of Kosovo, visiting Albania and Macedonia.

Behgjet Pacolli left the role on 4 April 2011, after the Constitutional Court of Kosovo had ruled that his election procedure had been irregular.

Ultimately, Behgjet Pacolli's case helped improve Kosovo's score for Judicial Framework and Independence in the 2012 Nations in Transit report.

In late autumn of 2017, Behgjet Pacolli discussed establishing Serb Municipalities for the Serb minority in Kosovo with foreign policy and security chief Federica Mogherini and EU enlargement commissioner Johannes Hahn.

Serbian media reported that Behgjet Pacolli is in favour of abolishing tax on goods from Serbia.

From September 2017 to February 2020, Behgjet Pacolli served as vice prime minister and foreign minister of the Republic of Kosovo.

Pope Francis encouraged Masha Behgjet Pacolli to continue working with women who were traumatized as a result of the armed conflict.

On 15 January 2021, Behgjet Pacolli visited the destroyed village of Thumana with Albania's Prime Minister Edi Rama.

Behgjet Pacolli announced that he would further support relief and build a housing complex that comprises 80 apartments with a square footage of 100 m each.

Several times, Behgjet Pacolli has been directly involved in the release of hostages in Afghanistan and in other countries undergoing conflicts.

Behgjet Pacolli travelled to Afghanistan where he spent a month negotiating on their behalf.

Behgjet Pacolli was contacted by an Italian intelligence agency in order to negotiate his liberation.

In 2007, Behgjet Pacolli negotiated the release of 23 South Korean Christian missionaries from Afghanistan.

Behgjet Pacolli managed to secure the release of 21 of them after 2 were executed.

In early 2010, Behgjet Pacolli negotiated with Muammar Ghaddafi and attempted to secure their release.

Berisha was discharged from prison after Behgjet Pacolli travelled to Eritrea and negotiated his discharge.

In 1993, Behgjet Pacolli established "Les Enfants du Sakha", presently known as "Ibrahim Kodra Foundation" a fund with the stated goal of providing help in the medical care, education and recreation of children.

Just in Kosovo, the Behgjet Pacolli Foundation has donated over 20 million euros to various projects.

Behgjet Pacolli has been the main sponsor of the Aleksander Moisiu Foundation, and the "Bambimi Di Sakha" Orphanages Foundation.

Since 1993, Behgjet Pacolli has been financially supporting the hospital for the shelter and care of abandoned children born with physical disabilities in Sakha.

Later, Behgjet Pacolli funded the building of the American University in Kosovo campus.

Behgjet Pacolli financed the expansion and construction of the College of Philosophy within the University of Prishtina the next year.

In 2017, Kosovar media reported that Behgjet Pacolli proposed a twelve-point plan for a large-scale renovation of Prishtina.