Introduction
Gent Cakaj (born 6 July 1990) is a Kosovo-born Albanian politician, who is serving as the de-facto foreign minister of Albania. At age 28, he became the youngest foreign minister in Albanian history.
Biography
He is the son of Shkëlzen Cakaj, a reasearcher from Gjakova, Kosovo. Gent Cakaj was born and grew up in Pristina.
Cakaj was educated in Kosovo, Belgium and Hungary, and holds two bachelor's and three master's degrees in philosophy, political sciences, and law. He graduated in 2015 from Central European University with a MA thesis on "Neuro-Enhancement and the Notion of Legal Responsibility"
Cakaj was initially an advisor to Prime Minister Rama on Foreign Policy and, specifically, for European Union affairs. Then in the Rama II cabinet he was appointed as deputy minister of foreign affairs.
In January 2019 Cakaj was designated to replace incumbent Ditmir Bushati as Minister Of Foreign Affairs by Prime Minister Edi Rama after a cabinet reshuffle. The appointment was rejected by President Ilir Meta citing issues with Cakaj over credentials for the portfolio. The matter led to a public spat between the president and prime minister that ended with Rama temporarily taking on the additional role of Foreign Affairs Minister. After Rama became Foreign Minister he delegated the portfolio to Cakaj on January 23.
Publications
- With Gezim Krasniqi: The role of minorities in the Serb-Albanian political quagmire, in Kosovo and Serbia: Contested Options and Shared Consequences, edited by Leandrit Mehmeti and Branislav Radeljic (Pittsburgh: Pittsburgh University Press,2016), 149-167.