Albania Elects Military Veteran Vegaj as New President... Five-Year Term Begins Next Month

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyunjung] The 8th president of Albania, a small country on the Balkan Peninsula, has been elected as the top military commander.

According to the AP News Agency, the Albanian parliament elected Byram Begaj (55), the Chief of Staff of the military, as the new president on the 4th (local time). Albania, which has a parliamentary cabinet system, elects a president for a five-year term through an indirect election by the parliament (140 seats). Begaj was elected as the new president after the 4th round of voting, receiving 78 votes in favor, 4 against, and 1 abstention.

The newly appointed President Begaj studied medicine and, after enlisting, held various positions before becoming Chief of Staff in July 2020. He also received training in strategic medical leadership and defense management in the United States.

Since the collapse of the communist regime in 1991, he is the third president from the military. The inauguration ceremony is scheduled for July 24. The former president, Ilir Meta, was impeached by the parliament but the Constitutional Court dismissed the charges, allowing him to complete his five-year term and step down from the presidency.

Albania, located on the Balkan Peninsula between Greece and Italy, is a small country with a land area of about 29,000 km², roughly the size of Gangwon-do and Gyeonggi-do provinces combined in South Korea, and a population of 2.87 million. It transitioned from a communist system to a market economy with democratization in the early 1990s. As of 2020, its per capita income was $5,215 (approximately 6.53 million KRW), making it one of the poorest countries in Europe.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.