1. Previously Ilir Meta served as Prime Minister from 1999 to 2002 and he was Speaker of the Parliament of Albania from 2013 to 2017.
28 Facts About Ilir Meta
1. 2.
Ilir Meta held positions as Deputy Prime Minister, Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs and Minister of Economy, Trade, and Energy.
3.
Ilir Meta founded the Socialist Movement for Integration in 2004.
4.
On 28 April 2017, Ilir Meta was elected President of Albania, receiving 87 votes from the 140 Members of Parliament.
5.
Ilir Meta graduated at the Faculty of Economics and Politics branch of the University of Tirana, where he pursued his post-graduate studies.
6.
Ilir Meta has been engaged in politics since 1990, after the fall of communism in Albania, as an active participant in the students' movement against one-party rule, which brought political pluralism in Albania.
7.
In 2004, Ilir Meta left the Socialist Party of Albania and founded his own party, the Socialist Movement for Integration.
8.
From 2004 to 2006, Ilir Meta was nominated as a member of the International Commission on the Balkans, chaired by the former Prime Minister of Italy, Giuliano Amato.
9.
On 29 January 2002, Ilir Meta announced his resignation as Prime Minister due to party infighting between the Socialist Party leader Fatos Nano and himself.
10.
Ilir Meta was an early and vocal campaigner for the visa-free with the Schengen Area, which was accomplished in 2010.
11.
Ilir Meta remains one of the most vocal campaigners and advocates of regional and European integration for all countries of the Western Balkans, as a means to further strengthen stability and peace in the region.
12.
In 2011, Ilir Meta served as the Minister of Economy, Trade, and Energy in the center-right government of Sali Berisha, whose Democratic Party of Albania the LSI joined after the 2009 parliamentary election.
13.
On 28 April 2017, Ilir Meta was elected President of the Republic of Albania at the fourth ballot with 87 votes out of 140.
14.
In January 2020, Ilir Meta met with Israel Defense Forces soldiers in Israel, and thanked them for their assistance in earthquake relief efforts, awarding the Albanian Golden Medal of the Eagle to the soldiers' unit.
15.
Ilir Meta has underscored the willingness of Albanians to strengthen its bilateral strategic partnerships with all partner countries in the areas of security and NATO.
16.
Ilir Meta then continues by asking Prifti to hire activists from their party, the Socialist Movement for Integration at the time now renamed Freedom Party.
17.
Ilir Meta is overheard bragging that because he is on good terms with Chief Justice Shpresa Becaj, after having hired her daughter as a diplomat at an embassy he can influence the decision of the court.
18.
Ilir Meta then asks Prifti to keep the affair quiet because he is afraid the prosecutor's office might open an investigation if it learns about it.
19.
On 9 June 2021, Ilir Meta was impeached by the Albanian parliament for violating the constitution and discharged from the post of president.
20.
On 16 February 2022 the Constitutional Court of Albania overturned the impeachment and ruled that the evidence against Ilir Meta did not amount to the a violation of the constitution.
21.
Kronen Zeitung published an article in which Ilir Meta is accused of lobbying via a shell company, the article claims Ilir Meta paid $700,000 through a Cypriot shell company to gain access to the 2017 inauguration of Donald Trump.
22.
On 20 January 2017 Ilir Meta shared a photo of himself and SMI leader Petrit Vasili at social media during the inauguration of Donald Trump in Capitol, Washington, DC.
23.
On 21 October 2024, Ilir Meta was arrested after returning from a news conference in neighboring Kosovo after an investigation was conducted by SPAK on suspicion of corruption, money laundering and hiding personal income and property, according to Freedom Party spokesman Tedi Blushi.
24.
Ilir Meta is a Bektashi, and adherent to traditional Bektashi values.
25.
Ilir Meta is an ardent supporter of Celtic FC, often showing his passion for the club on social media.
26.
Ilir Meta was married to Monika Kryemadhi until June 2024 when they get divorced, they proclaimed this was caused by political nepotism and other personal consequences.
27.
In March 2012, Ilir Meta received "Most Positive Personality for 2010 in Foreign Policy" award by International Institute "IFIMES" in Ljubljana, Slovenia.
28.
Ilir Meta has been honored by several cities and regions of Albania with the title "Honorary Citizen".