Branko Crvenkovski

Branko Crvenkovski (born 12 October 1962) is a Macedonian politician who served as the President of Macedonia (now North Macedonia) from 2004 to 2009. He previously served as Prime Minister of Macedonia from 1992 to 1998 and from 2002 to 2004.

A former member of the League of Communists of Macedonia (SKM), Crvenkovski became the president of the Social Democratic Union of Macedonia (SDSM) in 1991, the legal successor of the SKM. He was SDSM's leader on two occasions.

Early life and career Crvenkovski was born on 12 October 1962 in Sarajevo, People's Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia. His father was an officer in the Yugoslav People's Army. His family returned to live in Skopje in 1963.

In 1986, he obtained a bachelor's degree in Computer Science and Automation from the Faculty of Electrical Engineering at the Ss. Cyril and Methodius University in Skopje. In the same year, he was elected as member of the Central Committee of the League of Communists of Macedonia (SKM). In 1990, he was elected as member of the Presidency of SKM and the Assembly of the Socialist Republic of Macedonia at the first multi-party elections in Yugoslavia and as the head of the Commission of Foreign Affairs after serving for several years as head of the computer engineering department at the Semos company in Skopje. His government had initiated the ineffective 1993 privatization program. Crvenkovski reorganized the government in 1996 due to his plummeting popularity as a result of the country's bad economic conditions. Crvenkovski was a signatory of the Ohrid Framework Agreement, which ended the conflict. forming a government with the ethnic Albanian party Democratic Union for Integration.

Presidency (2004–2009) Crvenkovski won the April 2004 presidential election against Saško Kedev and took office on 12 May 2004.

Crvenkovski did not run for a second term in the March 2009 presidential election. Instead, he returned to his party and was elected to be the head of the party on 24 May 2009. In 2013, he was succeeded by Zoran Zaev. having a son and a daughter. Crvenkovski is an Honorary Member of Raoul Wallenberg Foundation.