Nikola Gruevski

Nikola Gruevski
Gruevski in 2015
6th Prime Minister of Macedonia
In office
27 August 2006 – 18 January 2016
PresidentBranko Crvenkovski
Gjorge Ivanov
Preceded byVlado Bučkovski
Succeeded byEmil Dimitriev
Leader of the Opposition
In office
31 May 2017 – 23 December 2017
PresidentGjorge Ivanov
Preceded byZoran Zaev
Succeeded byHristijan Mickoski
Minister of Finance
In office
27 December 1999 – 11 January 2002
Prime MinisterLjubčo Georgievski
Preceded byBoris Stojmenov
Succeeded byPetar Gosev
Personal details
Born (1970-08-31) 31 August 1970 (age 53)
Skopje, SR Macedonia, SFR Yugoslavia
Nationality Macedonian
Political partyVMRO-DPMNE
Spouses
Suzana Arbutina
(m. 2001; div. 2005)
Borkica Gruevska
(m. 2007; div. 2022)


Nikola Gruevski (Macedonian: Никола Груевски, pronounced ['nikɔla 'ɡruɛfski] ; born 31 August 1970) is a former Macedonian politician who served as Prime Minister of Macedonia from 2006 until his resignation, which was caused by the 2016 Macedonian protests, and led the VMRO-DPMNE party from 2004 to 2017.

Under the Pržino Agreement mediated by the European Union, Gruevski agreed to resign and left his post on 18 January 2016.[1]

In May 2018 he was sentenced to two years in prison on corruption charges.[2] In November 2018 he was ordered to serve his sentence but failed to check-in with authorities and instead fled[3] to Hungary, where he sought and was granted political asylum.[4] He has been accused of promoting the controversial identity politics called antiquization. Under his leadership the country which had pro-European and pro-NATO policy, has changed sides to pro-Russian, pro-Serbian and anti-Western one.[5][6][7][8] He has opposed treaties with Bulgaria in 2017 and the Prespa agreement signed with Greece in 2018.

In April 2022, he was added to the US Treasury's Specially Designated Nationals List of individuals facing Balkans-related sanctions and the US Department of State's corruption related sanctions.[9][10] Also in April, he was sentenced in Skopje to 7 years in prison on charges of money laundering and illegal acquisition and concealment of state property.[11]

  1. ^ "Macedonia Premier to Step Down Under Western-brokered Deal". VOA. 14 January 2016. Retrieved 15 June 2022.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference BalkanEU was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference ArrestWarrant was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference AsylumGranted was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Jasmin Mujanovic, Hunger and Fury: The Crisis of Democracy in the Balkans, Oxford University Press, 2018, ISBN 0190877391, pp. 115; 162.
  6. ^ Sarantis Michalopoulos, Tensions grow before biggest secret is revealed: FYROM's new name, EURACTIV Jan 18, 2018.
  7. ^ Vassilis Petsinis, From pro-American to pro-Russian? Nikola Gruevski as a political chameleon. 22 May 2015. openDemocracy Archived 21 November 2018 at the Wayback Machine.
  8. ^ Aubrey Belford et al., Leaked Documents Show Russian, Serbian Attempts to Meddle in Macedonia. 04 June 2017, Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project.
  9. ^ "Balkans-related Designations and Designations Removals". U.S. Department of the Treasury. Retrieved 11 April 2022.
  10. ^ "Public Designation of Former Officials of the Republic of North Macedonia and Bosnia and Herzegovina Due to Involvement in Significant Corruption". state.gov.
  11. ^ Йоана Кръстева, Осъдиха бившия македонски премиер Никола Груевски на 7 години затвор. 21 април 2022 Дир.бг.

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