Nikola Gruevski
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.
Nikola Gruevski | |
|---|---|
Никола Груевски | |
Gruevski in 2015 | |
| 6th Prime Minister of Macedonia | |
| In office 27 August 2006 – 18 January 2016 | |
| President | Branko Crvenkovski Gjorge Ivanov |
| Preceded by | Vlado Bučkovski |
| Succeeded by | Emil Dimitriev |
| Leader of the Opposition | |
| In office 31 May 2017 – 23 December 2017 | |
| President | Gjorge Ivanov |
| Preceded by | Zoran Zaev |
| Succeeded by | Hristijan Mickoski |
| Minister of Finance | |
| In office 27 December 1999 – 11 January 2002 | |
| Prime Minister | Ljubčo Georgievski |
| Preceded by | Boris Stojmenov |
| Succeeded by | Petar Gosev |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 31 August 1970 Skopje, SR Macedonia, SFR Yugoslavia |
| Nationality | Macedonian |
| Political party | VMRO-DPMNE |
| Spouses | Suzana Arbutina
(m. 2001; div. 2005)Borkica Gruevska
(m. 2007) |
| Children | 2 |
| Alma mater | St. Clement of Ohrid University in Bitola Ss. Cyril and Methodius University in Skopje |
Under the Pržino Agreement mediated by the European Union, Gruevski agreed to resign and left his post on 18 January 2016.
In May 2018 he was sentenced to two years in prison on corruption charges. In November 2018 he was ordered to serve his sentence but failed to check-in with authorities and instead fled to Hungary, where he sought and was granted political asylum. 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. 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. 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.