Background
Alkalaj was born on 11 November 1948 in Sarajevo to a Sephardi Jewish father and Bosnian Croat Catholic mother.
Alkalaj was born on 11 November 1948 in Sarajevo to a Sephardi Jewish father and Bosnian Croat Catholic mother.
Alkalaj graduated mechanical engineering at the University of Sarajevo in 1974.
More recently, Alkalaj held the post of Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe between 2012 and 2014. He was raised Jewish. His paternal family emigrated from Spain and settled in Sarajevo hundreds of years ago when they fled the Spanish inquisition.
He returned to the university in 1987 and earned a degree in economics.
1975–1985: Petrolinvest, Commercial Manager in Sarajevo
1985–1988: Energoinvest, Regional Manager for Middle and Far East in Sarajevo
1988–1994: Energoinvest, Managing Director in Bangkok, Thailand
1994–2000: Ambassador of Bosnia and Herzegovina to the United States in Washington, District of Columbia 2000–2004: Ambassador of Bosnia and Herzegovina to the Organization of American States (Organization of American States) in Washington, District of Columbia 2004–2007: Ambassador of Bosnia and Herzegovina to Belgium and Head of Mission of Bosnia and Herzegovina to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) in Brussels
2007–2012: Foreign Minister of Bosnia and Herzegovina
2012–2014: Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UN Economic Commission for Europe) in Geneva
Alkalaj has been exposed to harsh criticism and requests for his resignation after it was published that he has received the Croatian citizenship in 2006 through his mother"s lineage, Bosnian media reported. On April 2, 2010, during a visit to Dublin for a meeting with the Irish foreign affairs minister Micheál Martin, Alkalaj declared to the press that Serbia should hand over Ratko Mladić to the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia.
Alkalaj is one of the most prominent Bosnian Jews of Sephardic origin and is a longtime member of the Party for Bosnia and Herzegovina (SBiH) led by Haris Silajdžić.