Gjorge Ivanov, who began his second term as Macedonia’s president on May 12 this year, focused his inaugural address on the need for all Macedonians to work together to achieve their country’s long-term peace and prosperity. The president commented, “I would like to express my great gratitude to the citizens of the Republic of Macedonia who have contributed to maintaining peaceful, fair and democratic elections. It is democracy, citizens and Macedonia that have won these elections.”
Long-time supporter of free-market principles
President Ivanov, who was born in 1960, earned a law degree from Saints Cyril and Methodius University in Skopje and has spent much of his professional life as a law professor. Early in his career he worked as a journalist and presenter for Macedonian Radio Television and was very involved in efforts to reform Macedonia’s political system. After the collapse of Yugoslavia, Gjorge Ivanov began to promote a liberalised, free-market economy in Macedonia.
As a law professor, Gjorge Ivanov was known for his innovative teaching methods and for his support for the EU TEMPUS Programme, which introduced reforms in Macedonia’s higher-education sector to align it with EU standards. He also served as a consultant for prominent think tanks and research centres. The president was a co-founder of Macedonia’s first political journal, “Political Thought”, and of the Institute for Democracy, Solidarity and Civil Society, and he launched Macedonia’s Political Science Association. Although not a party member, he was active in designing the reform policy of the VMRO-DPMNE party.
Becoming Macedonia’s fourth democratically elected president in 2009, Gjorge Ivanov immediately demonstrated his drive to carve out a niche for Macedonia on the international scene and to strengthen the country’s global ties. He participated in more than 200 meetings with other heads of state and in hundreds of cultural, sports, diplomatic, academic and economic events at home and abroad. He introduced Macedonia’s “Best Young Scientist” award and established the annual School of Young Leaders. In March 2012, President Ivanov was sworn in as Protector of the European Academy of Sciences and Arts. In December 2013, he became a member of the World Academy of Arts and Sciences.
In his second term, President Ivanov anticipates new challenges. In his recent inaugural address, he said, “We live in a period of perpetual transformation of the international order. Five years ago when I was giving a solemn oath to be Macedonia’s president, the world was experiencing an economic and financial crisis, and Europe was about to enter a big debt crisis. Crises slowly dissolve and economies recover, yet global challenges and changes remain. They are now even more intense and unforeseeable. And, the world is more connected and interdependent than ever before. In such complex international conditions, it is necessary for Macedonia to defend its interests and the interests of its citizens. The Republic of Macedonia must speak in a single voice and with a clear position in order to be recognised as a stable country and respected as a responsible partner and ally.”
Call for unity
The president has always been a strong supporter of unity. In his inaugural address he said, “I was and I will remain the president of all Macedonia’s citizens, regardless of whom they voted for. I will continue to defend our common national interests and the interests of all citizens of Macedonia, whether they are Macedonians, Albanians, Turks, Vlachs, Serbs, Roma, Bosniaks or others. As president, I was and I will be the voice of all citizens.”
The president also stressed his drive to expand Macedonia’s international trade. He made an official visit to China in October 2013, regularly welcomes foreign investors looking into opportunities in Macedonia, and noted in his inaugural address that one of his main goals is to streamline transport connections between Macedonia and its neighbours.
A priority on the president’s agenda remains Macedonia’s membership in the EU and NATO. In his speech, president Ivanov commented, “We believe in a safe and stable, European and Euro-Atlantic Macedonia, open to its neighbours and to the world, an independent and sovereign Macedonia in which the rule of law has been established and guaranteed, and in which human rights and civil liberties are guaranteed.” He added, “As Macedonia remains committed to its European and Euro-Atlantic path, we expect the EU and NATO to remain faithful to their principles: peace, democracy, the rule of law, human rights, the right to self-identification and human dignity. We see these principles as the cause and the meaning of Macedonia’s integration into the EU and NATO.”
Concluding his inaugural address, President Ivanov once again stressed Macedonian unity. He said, “We are all together, under one flag, under one sun. We are all together in our common homeland, the Republic of Macedonia, which we must build as a home of wellbeing for all.”
