Profile: North Macedonia's president-elect Stevo Pendarovski

Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-08 02:55:33|Editor: yan
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SKOPJE, May 7 (Xinhua) -- Stevo Pendarovski, a politician and academic, was elected as the fifth President of North Macedonia on the second round of presidential elections held on Sunday.

On March 3, North Macedonia's left-wing ruling Social Democratic Union (SDSM) nominated Pendarovski as its candidate for the post of president.

Pendarovski, 56, also had the support of several smaller parties, including the Albanian Democratic Union for Integration (DIU), a junior partner in the ruling coalition.

Pendarovski was born on April 3 in 1963 in Skopje, where he lives with his wife and son.

In 1987, he graduated in law from the Ss. Cyril and Methodius University in Skopje. He later earned an MA and a PhD in political sciences in the University's Institute for Sociological, Political and Juridical Research.

Pendarovski's political career kicked off in 1998 as an Assistant-Minister for Public Relations in the Ministry of Internal Affairs and as head of the Analytical and Research Department of that ministry where he worked until 2001.

From 2001 to 2004, he was the National Security and Chief Foreign Policy Adviser to President Boris Trajkovski until Trajkovski's tragic death. In 2004-2005, Pendarovski headed the country's State Election Commission.

Later from 2005 to 2009, he went on to serve again as National Security and Chief Foreign Policy Adviser to the country's next president, Branko Crvenkovski.

On March 4, 2014, he was elected by the main opposition party at that time, the Social Democrats, as their candidate for the April 2014 presidential election, where he was defeated by outgoing President Gjorge Ivanov.

Since 2008, Pendarovski worked as an Assistant Professor in International Security, Foreign Policy and Globalization at the University American College in Skopje.

Before his nomination as a presidential candidate, Pendarovski was coordinating the country's accession into the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

Pendarovski's mother language is Macedonian, but he also has excellent knowledge of English language.

In his second bid for the presidency, he was a strong defender of the name deal with Greece, which according to him will enable the country to move forward with membership in NATO and possibly in the European Union (EU).

The slogan used by Pendarovski during his election campaign "Forward Together" reflected of his main platform of unity.

According to Pendarovski, NATO and EU membership are the country's key strategic goal, saying they will bring more foreign investment, create jobs and higher wages and prevent young people leaving the country.

Pendarovski said that the first thing he will do when he takes office is to sign the 25 decrees that Ivanov has refused to sign.

The president holds a largely ceremonial post in North Macedonia, but is the supreme commander of the armed forces and also signs off on parliamentary legislation.

Pendarovski is expected to swear in as President of North Macedonia during the plenary session of the Parliament on May 10.

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