Pendarovski sworn in as new North Macedonia president

SKOPJE, North Macedonia (AP) — Stevo Pendarovski has been sworn in as the new president of North Macedonia, promising he will serve all citizens in a deeply divided society and will lobby European Union leaders to approve the start of his country's accession talks in June.

The 56-year-old was sworn in before lawmakers Sunday. He won the election May 5 in a tightly contested runoff with a conservative rival.

The presidents of Albania, Bulgaria, Serbia and Kosovo attended the inauguration ceremony.

Pendarovski is a strong supporter of the deal with Greece, finalized in February, that ended a decades-long dispute over the name Macedonia, in exchange for the prospect of NATO and European Union membership.

Former president Gjorge Ivanov, who ended his second and last five-year term Sunday, was a fierce opponent of the name deal. </s> Stevo Pendarovski has been inaugurated as the new president of North Macedonia, calling for "reconciliation" in a deeply divided society.

In his inauguration speech before parliament on May 12, Pendarovski promised he will serve all citizens and said, "It is time to heal open wounds from our recent past and to really start civil reconciliation."

"There are so many divisions, especially political," he said.

The swearing-in ceremony was attended by the presidents of Albania, Bulgaria, Serbia, and Kosovo, as well as Pendarovski's predecessor, former president Gjorge Ivanov.

Pendarovski told lawmakers that the country will have to tackle two priorities: economic development and the fight against "corruption, crime, and nepotism."

He said he will lobby European Union leaders to approve the opening of North Macedonia's accession talks in June.

Pendarovski, backed by North Macedonia's ruling Social Democratic Union (SDSM), won the presidential election runoff on May 5 with nearly 52% of the vote.

Gordana Siljanovska-Davkova, the candidate favored by the main conservative opposition VMRO DPMNE party, had 45%.

Turnout was less than 47%.

Pendarovski, a former political-science professor, has strongly supported the so-called Prespa deal signed with Greece last year to change the country's name.

Siljanovska-Davkova has been critical of it, though the opposition has said it would not cancel the accord. She is also a strong proponent of EU and NATO integration.

The signing of the historic agreement with Greece changed the country's name to North Macedonia and ended a decades-long dispute that had blocked the Balkan state's path to NATO and the EU.

Ivanov, who ended his second and last five-year presidential term on May 12, was a fierce opponent of the deal.

Some information for this story came from AP. </s> Stevo Pendarovski was sworn in as N.Macedonia's new president in an inauguration ceremony in Skopje on Sunday in the presence of senior government officials, including outgoing president Gjorge Ivanov

Stevo Pendarovski, the newly-elected president of North Macedonian, has been sworn in on Sunday.

Speaking at the oath-taking ceremony, Pendarovski said his country will remain fully committed to Euro-Atlantic integration. Pendarovski, who is a supporter of North Macedonia's name change deal with Greece, said that he will be "everyone's president."

Election on May 5 was the sixth presidential election in the country's modern history, but the first since it made a momentous name change.

Last June, the country agreed to change its name in line with a deal under which Greece dropped its objection to North Macedonia joining NATO and the EU.

Since Macedonia declared independence from the former Yugoslavia in 1991, the nation has had four presidents. Under the Constitution, a president can be elected for a maximum of two times. </s> Stevo Pendarovski was sworn in as North Macedonia's new president in an inauguration ceremony in Skopje on Sunday in the presence of senior government officials, including outgoing president Gjorge Ivanov.

Government-backed candidate Pendarovski had received roughly 436,000 votes as of Monday. There were 1.8 million eligible voters.

Pendarovski supports North Macedonia’s June 2018 agreement with Greece to change its name from the Republic of Macedonia to the Republic of North Macedonia after a long dispute over the term “Macedonia.”

The newly elected president’s support for the agreement will help North Macedonia move ahead in accession to the European Union and NATO, experts say.

Read More: What’s next for North Macedonia? | Euronews Answers </s> Stevo Pendarovski was sworn in as North Macedonia's new president in an inauguration ceremony in Skopje on Sunday in the presence of senior government officials, including outgoing president Gjorge Ivanov.

Pendarovski, a 56-year-old law professor, defeated nationalist candidate and university professor Gordana Siljanovska-Davkova last week.

Government-backed candidate Pendarovski had received roughly 436,000 votes as of Monday. There were 1.8 million eligible voters.

Pendarovski supports North Macedonia’s June 2018 agreement with Greece to change its name from the Republic of Macedonia to the Republic of North Macedonia after a long dispute over the term “Macedonia.”

Greece has a province that borders North Macedonia called Macedonia.

The newly elected president’s support for the agreement will help North Macedonia move ahead in accession to the European Union and NATO, experts say.

Read More: What’s next for North Macedonia? | Euronews Answers </s> The URL has been copied to your clipboard

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North Macedonia's newly elected president, Stevo Pendarovski, assumed power in Skopje on May 12 after winning a presidential runoff a week ago. Pendarovski's swearing-in ceremony at the parliament brought together Bulgarian President Rumen Radev with Albanian counterpart Ilir Meta, but also Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic with Kosovar President Hashim Thaci. Pendarovski was then introduced in the presidential seat, Villa Vodno, by outgoing President Gjorge Ivanov. </s> North Macedonia's pro-Western candidate has narrowly won the first round of a presidential poll which comes amid deep divisions over the country's name change under a deal with Greece.

Stevo Pendarovski won with 42.6% of the votes, according to results on the State Election Commission website, which is based on 74% of counted votes.

Pendarovski's rival opposition candidate Gordana Siljanovska-Davkova came second with 41.6% of the vote. They will face each other in a run-off vote on May 5.

However, the State election commission put voter turnout at just 39%.

Pendarovski is a candidate from the governing SDSM coalition and a former adviser on national security in the Presidential Cabinet. He has adopted the campaign slogan of 'Together Forward' and is attempting to mobilise support across the ethnic divides of North Macedonia.

Pendarovski is a firm supporter of the Prespa Agreement, the accord which saw the Republic of Macedonia become North Macedonia, which could see the country gaining membership in NATO and the EU.

His pro-European message is being countered by Gordana Siljanovska Davkova, the candidate from the right-wing VMRO-DPMNE. The University Professor is playing to a significant crowd of Macedonians who are against by the Prespa Agreement, adopting the slogan 'Justice for Macedonia'. She has called for the Prespa Agreement to be changed and has called it “degrading”.

However, analysts have said the low voter turnout on Sunday reflects the disillusion among young voters about the government's failure to tackle high unemployment and attract foreign investment. </s> Following his second-round victory in the Republic of North Macedonia’s presidential elections, ruling coalition candidate Stevo Pendarovski was sworn in as head of state on May 12, pledging to be president for all and to co-operate with the opposition.

“The first thing I will do is co-operate with the opposition. The time has come to heal the open wounds and enable reconciliation,” said Pendarovski, a 56-year-old academic and politician who is the country’s fifth president and the first to take office after the former Yugoslav republic changed its name. The constitutional role of North Macedonia’s head of state is largely ceremonial.

Noting that he had been backed by the political majority, he said that he saw his first task as President as being to protect the status and rights of the political minority “because democracy endures only when the various minorities in society are protected by the will of the majority”.

Political differences among people and parties would continue because they are natural and necessary, but the energy and potential of society can be united, Pendarovski said.

There was no other such small country in Europe in which there was so much division in society, he said.

One of the biggest challenges was the fight against corruption and organised crime, he said.

He said that his main goal would be North Macedonia’s entry into the EU and Nato, as well as the preservation of ethnic equilibrium.

Among those attending the ceremony were Albanian President Ilir Meta, Bulgarian President Roumen Radev, Kosovo President Hashim Thaçi, Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić, Greek Foreign Minister Georgios Katrougalos, Montenegrin Foreign Minister Srđan Darmanović, Turkish Deputy Foreign Minister Faruk Kaymakcı and Polish Deputy Foreign Minister Maciej Lang, as well as Pendarovski’s predecessor as President, Gjorge Ivanov, and Branko Crvenkovski, President from 2004 to 2009. Those in the parliamentary hall for the swearing-in ceremony included MPs from the opposition VMRO-DPMNE.

Pendarovski becomes head of state in a changed political environment in North Macedonia, following the landmark agreement that ended the long-standing dispute with Greece over the use of the name “Macedonia”. Skopje and Sofia earlier achieved ratification of a long-awaited good-neighbourliness agreement.

In February 2019, the permanent representatives of Nato member states signed the accession protocol of North Macedonia, now undergoing the process of ratification by legislatures of the alliance’s member states.

The agreement on the name Republic of North Macedonia cleared away Greece’s objections to the country’s path towards membership of the EU. Subject to a number of conditions, talks on North Macedonia’s EU accession may begin in June 2019. The country has had EU membership candidate status since December 2005.
• With reporting by the </s> The rivals running for North Macedonia's presidency, Stevo Pendarovski and Gordana Siljanovska-Davkova, cast their ballots in the May 5 runoff in Skopje. Pendarovski represents the ruling coalition while Siljanovska-Davkova has been nominated by the opposition contesting the country's recent name change from Macedonia to North Macedonia.
Stevo Pendarovski is sworn in as the President of North Macedonia after winning the election, the first after the Prespa agreement.