Shaqir Vukaj (born 20 August 1942) is an Albanian politician who served as Minister of Defence from 11 March 1997 until 25 July 1997, during the

Albanian Unrest of 1997 The 1997 Albanian civil unrest was sparked by pyramid scheme failures in Albania soon after its transition to a market economy. The government was toppled and more than 2,000 people were killed. Various other sources also describe the violenc ...

. He replaced

Safet Zhulali Safet Zhulali (11 March 1944 – 12 April 2002) was an Albanian politician who served as Defence Minister in the Meksi I & II Governments. He was a member of the Legislative Assembly from 1992 until 1997. Early life and education Safet Zhulali w ...

, who fled to Italy with his family days after resigning. His short tenure as Defence Minister was not without conflict. Following the sinking of a boat filled with Albanian refugees by the Italian Navy, Vukaj met with Italian Minister of Defence

Beniamino Andreatta Beniamino "Nino" Andreatta (11 August 1928 – 26 March 2007) was an Italian economist and politician. He was a member of Christian Democrat, and one of the founders of the Italian People's Party in 1994 and of the Olive Tree coalition in 1996. ...

to discuss the withdrawal of Italian troops from Albania. The Italian military was present in the country as part of Operation Alba, a multinational force mobilized following the

. Anger at the sinking of the refugee boat resulted in rebel groups threatening to fire on Italian troops.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vukaj, Shaqir Government ministers of Albania Defence ministers of Albania 1942 births Politicians from Shkodër Living people