Former DP MP Ferdinand Xhaferaj appointed advisor to President Begaj

Albania

Express newspaper

10/10/2025 14:21

Former Democratic Party MP in Durrës, Ferdinand Xhaferaj, has been appointed advisor to the President of the Republic, Bajram Begaj.

The appointment was made in recent days, after the end of his mandate as a deputy in the Albanian Parliament, while Xhaferaj refused to run again in the upcoming parliamentary elections by not entering the DP primaries.

Ferdinand Xhaferaj has a long career in politics and in the field of national security.

He completed his university studies at the University of Tirana and in 1999 he pursued a specialization at Harvard University on "Leadership Politics".

He then completed a Double Master's Degree in "International Security" and "National Security Issues" at the Naval Postgraduate School in the United States of America, while in 2006 he completed his doctoral studies at the Defense Academy.

In his political career, Xhaferaj has been a member of parliament for the Democratic Party for five legislatures and has held important parliamentary functions, including: chairman of the Albanian delegation to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly (1996–1997), co-chairman of the NATO Integration Committee (2007–2009), deputy chairman of the European Integration Committee (2005–2009), member of the Albanian delegation to the European Parliament (2005–2009), and deputy chairman of the National Security Committee (2021–2025).

During the years 2009–2011, he served as Minister of Tourism, Culture, Youth and Sports, a period in which he was recognized for his contribution to the promotion of tourism and Albanian cultural heritage.

In addition to his political engagement, Xhaferaj has also had extensive academic activity, lecturing at the Military Academy, the University of Durrës, and the “Bedër” University College. He is the author of the monograph “De-Balkanizmi i Balkanit”, published by the “Dudaj” publishing house, and has participated in a number of national and international conferences on national security and international relations.

Ferdinand Xhaferaj is known as a very good connoisseur of English and Italian, while his main areas of interest are political science, national security and international relations.