Gjorge Ivanov facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Gjorge Ivanov
Ѓорге Иванов
Ivanov in 2017
4th President of (North) Macedonia
In office 12 May 2009 – 12 May 2019
Prime Minister	Nikola Gruevski Emil Dimitriev Zoran Zaev
Preceded by	Branko Crvenkovski
Succeeded by	Stevo Pendarovski
Personal details
Born	(1960-05-02) 2 May 1960 (age 65) Valandovo, PR Macedonia, FPR Yugoslavia
Political party	VMRO-DPMNE
Spouse	Maja Ivanova
Education	Ss. Cyril and Methodius University in Skopje
Signature

Gjorge Ivanov (Macedonian: Ѓорге Иванов, born 2 May 1960) is a politician from North Macedonia. He served as the fourth President of (North) Macedonia for ten years, from 2009 to 2019.

Early Life and Family

Gjorge Ivanov was born in a town called Valandovo. He went to primary and secondary school there. He lived in Valandovo until he was 27 years old. After that, he moved to Skopje, which is the capital city. Skopje has been his home ever since.

Ivanov is married to Maja Ivanova. They have a son together named Ivan.

Political and Community Work

Ivanov has been involved in politics since the time when his country was part of Yugoslavia. He worked to bring about new ideas like having many political parties (political pluralism). He also supported a free market economy, where businesses can compete freely.

Before 1990, he was active in the League of Socialist Youth of Yugoslavia. He was part of the group that led this organization. His work focused on changing the political system. He wanted to encourage different political ideas and a free economy.

Ivanov is known as an expert on "civil society." This means he understands how people and groups outside of government work together. He is especially good at political management. He started the Macedonian Political Science Association and is its honorary president. He also helped create the Institute for Democracy Societas Civilis. This is an important research center in North Macedonia.

Academic Career

Ivanov started his professional life in 1988. He worked as an editor at the national TV and radio station. Later, he taught about political ideas at the Law Faculty of the University of Skopje. In 1999, he became a visiting professor in Greece at the University of Athens.

He then had many other teaching roles at universities. These included universities in Bologna and Sarajevo. Ss. Cyril and Methodius University of Skopje made him an associate professor in 1992. He became a full professor there in 2008. In the same year, he became the head of the Council for Accreditation in Higher Education in Macedonia. This council makes sure that universities meet certain standards.

Books He Wrote

• Цивилно општество (Civil Society)
• Демократијата во поделените општества: македонскиот модел (Democracy in Divided Societies: The Macedonian Model)
• Современи политички теории (Current Political Theories)
• Политички теории - Антика (Political Theories - Antiquity)

Becoming President

Campaign and Election

On January 25, 2009, the main political party in North Macedonia, VMRO-DPMNE, chose Ivanov as their candidate for president. Over 1,000 party members voted for him. Even though the party chose him, he was not officially a member of VMRO-DPMNE.

During his campaign, Ivanov promised that if he became president, he would try to meet with the President of Greece. He also said that solving the long-standing "name dispute" with Greece would be a top priority. This dispute was about the name of his country.

In the first round of the 2009 election, Ivanov received the most votes. He got 343,374 votes, which was about 35% of all votes. The second-place candidate was Ljubomir Frčkoski.

Ivanov won the second round of the election with 453,616 votes. Frčkoski received 264,828 votes.

The day after winning, Ivanov repeated his plan to meet with the Greek president, Karolos Papoulias. He said he would send an official invitation after he took office. He also announced that he would include smart people from the Albanian community in his team.

On April 16, Ivanov officially received his presidential certificate.

Taking Office

Ivanov became president on May 12, 2009. He took over from the previous president, Branko Crvenkovski. After taking an oath, he gave a speech in the Macedonian parliament. He shared his main goals:

• Joining the EU and NATO.
• Improving the country's economy.
• Keeping peace and stability within the country.
• Improving relationships between different ethnic groups.
• Having good relationships with neighboring countries, especially Greece.

Many important people attended the ceremony. These included the former president, the prime minister, military leaders, and religious leaders. Ambassadors from other countries were also there.

Four presidents from other countries also attended:

• Boris Tadić, President of Serbia
• Filip Vujanović, President of Montenegro
• Stjepan Mesić, President of Croatia
• Bamir Topi, President of Albania

Ivanov met with these presidents later that day.

He was sworn in for his second term on May 12, 2014, also in the parliament. The prime minister, military officials, religious leaders, and foreign ambassadors were present. However, the largest Albanian political party and the main opposition party did not attend.

First Term as President

On the day he became president, Ivanov sent a letter to U.S. President Barack Obama. In the letter, he said that North Macedonia wanted to join NATO and the EU. He also mentioned finding a "mutually acceptable solution" to the name difference with Greece. He thanked Obama for his support at a NATO meeting.

The day after his inauguration, Ivanov traveled to Brussels with Prime Minister Gruevski. They met with officials from the European Union and NATO.

Ivanov said he wanted to promote a "Macedonian model" for a society with many different ethnic groups. He also supported the idea of a peaceful, united Europe that respects each nation's unique identity.

Second Term as President

Ivanov with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev in Baku, 10 March 2016

Ivanov with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow, 24 May 2017

Ivanov with Brazilian President Michel Temer in Brasília, 12 December 2017

Ivanov was re-elected as President of North Macedonia in April 2014.

In March 2016, Ivanov said that the European Union had not done enough to help North Macedonia and other Balkan countries during the European migrant crisis.

On April 12, 2016, Ivanov stopped some official investigations into government officials. He said he did this to help the country and end a political problem. However, this decision caused strong disagreement from the opposition parties. They said it was a move to stop further investigations. This led to protests in Skopje the next day.

Awards and Honours

Honours

• 2011 - Highest decoration of the Order of “Saint Lazarus” of Jerusalem
• 2012 - Order of the European Movement of Bosnia and Herzegovina
• 2013 - Imperial Knight of Honor of the Order of St. George from House of Habsburg
• 2015 - Honorary Citizen of Pustec
• 2015 - Order Baptist (Preteca) from Saint Jovan Bigorski Monastery
• 2015 - Jubilee Medal "70 Years of Victory in the Great Patriotic War 1941–1945" from Russian Federation

Awards

• 2011 - Recognition for leadership in reducing disaster risk from the International Strategy for Disaster Reduction of the United Nations
• 2012 - Peace and Sport' award from Peace and Sport International Forum
• 2014 - The Fund for American Studies (TFAS) Freedom Award
• 2014 - Prix de la Fondation from Crans Montana Forum
• 2016 - Isa Beg Ishaković international award from Isa Beg Ishaković Foundation
• 2017 - Flame of Peace award from the Association for the Furtherance of Peace
• 2017 - Patriarch Alexey II of Moscow Award from International Public Foundation for the Unity of Orthodox Christian Nations

Honorary Professor/Doctor Degrees

See also

In Spanish: Gjorge Ivanov para niños

• List of state visits made by Gjorge Ivanov