Who is Talat Xhaferi – the first Albanian at the helm of the ...
PROFILE/ Who is 'Commander Forina' who became the first Albanian Prime Minister of RMV!
Talat Xhaferi entered history today as he became the first Albanian prime minister in North Macedonia.
He is known for his contribution to politics, but he also has a major role in the armed conflict in Macedonia between the Macedonian security forces and the KLA.
Below we introduce you to the profile of the first Albanian prime minister in North Macedonia.
Profile of Talat Xhafer:
Talat Xhaferi was born on April 15, in the village of Forina in Gostivar.
He completed his primary education in Çegran, the neighboring village, and after that he went to Belgrade, where he completed the military gymnasium.
He then continued his military training career, so he enrolled and studied at the APJ Infantry Military Academy, infantry major, in Belgrade and then Sarajevo.
He continued his career in several military barracks of the People's Army of Yugoslavia at that time, where he is said to have been in Nis, Sarajevo, etc.
After the independence of Macedonia, he returned to his homeland and joined the Macedonian Army, being a senior officer and after a period he was elected commander of the infantry units in the barracks of Tetova.
On April 28, , when the armed conflict was taking place in Macedonia between the Macedonian security forces and the KLA, Xhaferi left the ranks of the Macedonian Army and joined the ranks of the KLA.
In this period, he was known by the nickname 'Commander Forina'.
Xhaferi was elected for the first time in the Assembly of the Republic of North Macedonia in for the DUI party. In , Xhaferi was Deputy Minister of Defense.
From to , Xhaferi was a deputy of North Macedonia for the DUI party, allied with the conservative party VMRO-DPMNE.
In , Xhaferi was appointed by DUI for the Ministry of Defense in the Cabinet of Nikola Gruevski, after the resignation of party member Fatmir Besimi, this caused protests.
Xhaferi stated that his goal was for the armed forces " to be a symbol of coexistence, tolerance and respect for differences ".
In April , Xhaferi was appointed speaker of the Macedonian Parliament by a coalition of minority Albanian parties and the then-opposition Social Democratic Party (LSDM), causing riots in the parliament building.