Boris Trajkovski

President of the Republic of Macedonia

Boris Trajkovski, 45, was inaugurated as the second President of the Republic of Macedonia on 15 December 1999, succeeding Kiro Gligorov. Before assuming the presidency, he served as Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs in the centre-right government of Ljubcho Georgievski, the country's current prime minister. Trajkovski, a lawyer by training, has the unusual distinction of being a Methodist pastor in a predominately Orthodox and Muslim country. He gave up communism and Orthodoxy while studying theology in the United States, returning to his homeland to join the ranks of Macedonia's small protestant community. Many analysts speculate that Trajkovski's background may be well suited to tackle Macedonia's most pressing issue: keeping the peace between the republic's large ethnic Albanian minority and ethnic Slav majority.

Although Trajkovski's pro-European and anti-communist rhetoric resonated well with both ethnic Macedonian and ethnic Albanian voters, it is widely believed that ethnic Albanians were the driving force behind Trajkovski's second-round run-off win against Tito Petkovski, the Social Democrat's presidential candidate and first-round victor. While the Social Democrat opted for a hard line against Albanian grievances, Trajkovski, whose party has been in coalition with the country's largest Albanian party since 1998, made more moderate remarks about the demands of minority groups. Shortly before the second round of elections, Albanian leader Arben Xhaferi called on his supporters to elect Trajkovski, effectively clinching his presidential bid.

The clashes between Macedonian forces and ethnic Albanian guerrillas have presented Trajkovski with a challenging situation. The commander in chief must walk a fine line between the conflicting demands of his party, the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization-Democratic Party of Macedonian National Unity (VMRO-DPMNE), whose constituency is right-wing nationalist voters and disgruntled ethnic Albanians who feel responsible for his election and deserving of his support. 

Trajkovski, who was born in Strumica, Macedonia, is married and has two children.