Former Albanian Prime Minister Fatos Nano passed way on Friday at the age 73 after lengthy health problems, media reports from the neighboring country stated.
Nano was born on September 16, 1952, in Tirana to a family among the so-called “elites’ class” in Hoxha’s Albania.
He was first appointed prime minister of the still nominally communist country 1990 by then president Ramiz Alia. In June 1991 his Labour Party was renamed the Socialist Party, with a 39-year-old Nano serving as its first chairman.
Nano was considered as instrumental and helping guide the Adriatic country out of its four decades of isolation from the rest of the world and eradicating the vestiges of a Stalinist communist regime.
He was arrested in 1993 during the Sali Berisha government on corruption charges and spent nearly four years in prison but still leading the Socialist Party from his cell.
After the 1997 “pyramid” collapse crisis in Albania, Nano was released from incarceration and led the Socialists back to power. He served as prime minister three times and led the Socialist Party for 14 years.
Nano was considered as among the protagonists in normalizing Tirana’s relations with Greece, and was a regular interlocutor with Athens’ leadership and respected by Greek political leaders.
