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by | Dec 1, 2017

Hristijan Mickoski (Macedonian: Христијан Мицкоски, pronounced [ˈxristijan ˈmit͡skɔski]; born 29 September 1977) is a Macedonian politician and the current Prime Minister of North Macedonia. He is also a university professor and president of VMRO-DPMNE. In 2016, he became the director of Power Plants of Macedonia, and in the period from 2015 to 2017, he was energy advisor to prime ministers Nikola Gruevski and Emil Dimitriev. As the sole candidate, he was elected leader of VMRO-DPMNE at the party's 16th congress in Valandovo.

Early life and career

Mickoski was born on 29 September 1977 in Skopje, then in Socialist Republic of Macedonia, part of SFR Yugoslavia. From 2016 to 2017, he was the director of Power Plants of Macedonia, the state-owned electricity producing company.[1] He has a PhD degree. In 2011, he was a visiting professor at Vienna's Technical University.[2] He was an associate professor at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering at the Ss. Cyril and Methodius University in Skopje,[3][4] but in 2019 he became a regular professor.[5] From 2015 to 2017, he was the energy advisor of prime ministers Nikola Gruevski and Emil Dimitriev.[2]

Political career

Party leader

After the resignation of Nikola Gruevski, Mickoski became the new leader of the VMRO-DPMNE party in 23 December 2017 in the party's 16th congress in Valandovo,[6] and thus leader of the opposition in the country.

According to some party members, in his youth Hristijan Mickoski was a candidate of the Liberal Democratic Party for the presidency of the Union of students at St. Cyril and Methodius University in Skopje and a fierce opponent to then ruling VMRO-DPMNE.[7] Other members of VMRO-DPMNE accused him of not being a party member up until 2010.[7] According to Ljubčo Georgievski, Mickoski displayed himself as a party activist firstly in 2016.[8]

The veracity of his pro-EU and pro-NATO orientation has been met with doubt by some political observers.[9][10] Mickoski has stated that he and his party are in favour of joining the European Union and NATO but not with "capitulation", i.e. rejecting the Prespa Agreement signed with Greece, which resolved the Macedonia naming dispute and secured North Macedonia's NATO accession.[11] He and the party he leads became the main participant of the July 2022 North Macedonia protests against the French proposal for the start of the negotiation process of North Macedonia and the EU.[12] In August 2022, Mickoski promised to leave politics forever, if Bulgarians were recognized in the country's constitution, a mandatory requirement included in the negotiating framework with the EU.[13] In September he proposed a referendum under which the friendship treaty between Bulgaria and North Macedonia would be annulled.[14][15] Mickoski has close ties with the Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orbán and Serbian president Aleksandar Vučić,[16][17][18] who are providing suitable model to Western Balkans' politicians with autocratic leanings.[19][20][21]

Prime Minister (2024–present)

After the VMRO-DPMNE gained a plurality of seats in the Assembly of North Macedonia and entered into a coalition agreement with the VLEN Coalition and ZNAM following the 2024 North Macedonian parliamentary election, Mickoski was given the mandate from the president Gordana Siljanovska-Davkova to form the next government on 6 June.[22] In his address on 23 June 2024, before the vote for the new government in the Assembly, he promised that his government would work to reduce taxes, increase pensions, start a project with over 200 million euros for municipal projects, invest one billion euros for the economy, initiate new foreign investments for new jobs, make textbooks free for all, fight against corruption, and fight for growth of up to 5 percent of the economy. After the vote, he became the country's 13th Prime Minister.[23][24]

After he referred to his country as "Macedonia" shortly before his election and described the constitutional name North Macedonia as "shameful", Greece accused the country of reneging on the Prespa Agreement and warned that its accession into the European Union was at risk of being blocked.[25] Mickoski promised in his speech also that as long as he is prime minister, the Bulgarian minority will not be recognized and there will be no more constitutional changes, describing this EU requirement as Bulgarian dictate.[26] On this occasion, the Bulgarian side warned that North Macedonia's intention not to abide to its international commitments is unacceptable and this is incompatible with the country's European path.[27]

Government

Mickoski has chosen close party allies and partners as ministers, reserving fewer posts for ethnic Albanians, and selecting one vice PM with well-known links to Moscow and Belgrade - Ivan Stoilković. It includes also all four VMRO-DPMNE vice presidents, most of whom held high positions under the autocratic regime of the former PM and party leader Nikola Gruevski. The government consists mainly of VMRO-DPMNE, VLEN, ZNAM and the Democratic Party of Serbs in Macedonia members.[28]

Personal life

Mickoski is married and has 2 children.[7] Apart from his native language Macedonian, he also knows English and some Italian.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b "Христијан Мицкоски - претседател на Владата". Kanal 5 (in Macedonian). 23 June 2024. Archived from the original on 28 June 2024. Retrieved 26 June 2024.
  2. ^ a b "Новиот генерален секретар на ВМРО-ДПМНЕ е Христијан Мицкоски, директор на ЕЛЕМ". МКД.мк (in Macedonian). 30 June 2017. Archived from the original on 25 February 2019.
  3. ^ "Мицкоски Христијан". Универзитет "Св. Кирил и Методиј", Машински факултет – Скопје. 22 June 2009. Archived from the original on 24 December 2017.
  4. ^ "Христијан Мицкоски е новиот претседател на ВМРО-ДПМНЕ". NovaTV (in Macedonian). 23 December 2017. Archived from the original on 26 June 2022. Retrieved 26 June 2024.
  5. ^ "Мицкоски е избран во звање редовен професор на Mашинскиот факултет во Скопје". Netpress (in Macedonian). 19 December 2019. Archived from the original on 28 June 2024. Retrieved 26 June 2024.
  6. ^ "Христијан Мицковски - нов лидер на ВМРО-ДПМНЕ". 24 ВЕСТИ. 23 December 2017. Archived from the original on 28 January 2018.
  7. ^ a b c Димковиќ-Мишевска, Габриела (5 December 2017). "Христијан Мицкоски иден лидер на ВМРО-ДПМНЕ?!". МАКФАКС (in Macedonian). Archived from the original on 4 April 2023. Retrieved 26 February 2021.
  8. ^ Деск 2 (7 March 2024). "Георгиевски го нарече Мицкоски „идеолошки наследник на Четничкиот вардарски корпус"". Рацин.мк (in Macedonian). Retrieved 28 June 2024.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  9. ^ Rizaov, Erol; Vesnik, Nezavisen (7 July 2019). "Mickoski's offer no longer stands". Independent Balkan News Agency. Archived from the original on 27 July 2021.
  10. ^ Taylor, Alice; Trkanjec, Zeljko (25 February 2022). "War with Russia and what it means for the Western Balkans". www.euractiv.com. Retrieved 28 June 2024.
  11. ^ "Mickoski: Zaev's deal is capitulation, VMRO-DPMNE will not support it". 13 June 2018. Retrieved 28 June 2024.
  12. ^ Service, RFE/RL's Balkan. "Debate Derailed In North Macedonian Parliament Amid Unrest Over Proposed Deal With EU, Bulgaria". RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty. Retrieved 28 June 2024.
  13. ^ "Мицкоски се зарече да напусне политиката, ако българите бъдат вписани в Конституцията на РСМ". Dnes.dir.bg. 16 August 2022. Retrieved 28 June 2024.
  14. ^ "ВМРО-ДПМНЕ обяви въпроса за референдума, свързан с Договора за приятелство с България". Dnes.dir.bg. 5 September 2022. Retrieved 28 June 2024.
  15. ^ "North Macedonia Opposition Seeks Referendum Against Bulgaria Deal". Balkan Insight. 6 September 2022. Archived from the original on 28 June 2024. Retrieved 26 June 2024.
  16. ^ "Mickoski in Budapest meets with Orban, says support from Hungary proof of friendship". MIA. 24 October 2023. Archived from the original on 26 June 2024. Retrieved 26 June 2024.
  17. ^ "North Macedonia Opposition Leader Attends Orban's Victory Party". Balkan Insight. 4 April 2022. Archived from the original on 26 June 2024. Retrieved 26 June 2024.
  18. ^ "Орбан и Вучич поздравиха Силяновска и ВМРО-ДПМНЕ с изборната победа". www.bta.bg (in Bulgarian). Retrieved 28 June 2024.
  19. ^ "Understanding the Orbán-Vučić Relationship". www.policysolutions.hu. Retrieved 28 June 2024.
  20. ^ Griessler, Christina; Elek, Fanni; Elek, Christina Griessler and Fanni (22 October 2021). "Quo vadis media pluralism in Europe? A contextualization from an Austrian perspective". Österreichische Gesellschaft für Europapolitik (in German). Retrieved 28 June 2024.
  21. ^ Bieber, Florian (2 July 2024). "Why Serbia's President Is a Threat to Europe". Foreign Policy. Retrieved 28 June 2024.
  22. ^ "North Macedonia's center-right leader given official mandate to form government after election win". Associated Press. 6 June 2024. Archived from the original on 6 June 2024. Retrieved 6 June 2024.
  23. ^ "The new Government was elected, whose president is Hristijan Mickoski". Sloboden Pecat. Archived from the original on 25 June 2024. Retrieved 24 June 2024.
  24. ^ "North Macedonia's parliament approves new gov't-Xinhua". english.news.cn. Retrieved 28 June 2024.
  25. ^ "Greece claims neighboring North Macedonia broke historic name deal, warns its EU hopes may suffer". Associated Press. 25 June 2024. Archived from the original on 25 June 2024. Retrieved 25 June 2024.
  26. ^ AI (24 June 2024). "Mickoski: Such a Bulgarian diktat under such circumstances while I am prime minister will not pass and there will be no constitutional changes". European Newsroom. Retrieved 28 June 2024.
  27. ^ "Съобщение". www.mfa.bg (in Bulgarian). Retrieved 28 June 2024.
  28. ^ "Close Allies, Fewer Albanians and a Moscow Fan – North Macedonia's Govt Takes Shape". Balkan Insight. 20 June 2024.