1. Nikola Gruevski 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.
30 Facts About Nikola Gruevski
1. 2.
Nikola Gruevski is the longest serving post-independence Macedonian prime minister, serving more than nine years in office.
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Nikola Gruevski was found to have authorized the wiretapping of more than 20,000 people in Macedonia, mostly state officials.
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Nikola Gruevski opposed treaties with Bulgaria in 2017 and the Prespa agreement signed with Greece in 2018.
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Under the Przino Agreement mediated by the European Union, Gruevski agreed to resign and left his post on 18 January 2016.
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Nikola Gruevski has been accused of promoting the controversial identity politics called antiquization.
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Nikola Gruevski's father worked in furniture and design and his mother was a nurse.
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Nikola Gruevski founded the Brokerage Association of Macedonia in 1998 and made the first transaction on the Macedonian Stock Exchange.
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Nikola Gruevski divorced his first wife and was married again in May 2007 to Borkica Gruevska with whom he has two daughters: Anastasija and Sofija.
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Nikola Gruevski's grandfather fought in the Greco-Italian War, where he lost his life.
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Nikola Gruevski's name is mentioned on the war memorial in Achlada among the names of the locals who were killed during World War II.
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Nikola Gruevski is a sister of the first Minister of the Interior of the Republic of Macedonia - Jordan Mijalkov.
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Nikola Gruevski is the leader of the nationalist ruling party VMRO-DPMNE.
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Nikola Gruevski emerged as the pro-EU leader, and he was elected as leader of the party after Ljubco Georgievski left the position.
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Nikola Gruevski's government had many new faces, mostly in their 30s, in key ministries and other positions.
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In June 2007, Gruevski attended a meeting in Tirana, Albania, along with President of the United States George W Bush, Prime Minister of Albania Sali Berisha, and Prime Minister of Croatia Ivo Sanader.
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Nikola Gruevski created a government with the ethnic Albanian political party Democratic Union for Integration.
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Nikola Gruevski formed the new government, again in coalition with the Democratic Union for Integration.
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On 6 January 2012, Nikola Gruevski opened the triumphal arch "Porta Macedonia" in Skopje as a monument to 20th anniversary of Macedonian independence, and admitted that he personally has been the instigator of the Skopje 2014 project.
20.
In 2014, Nikola Gruevski began to rush plans through Parliament to create a tax-free autonomous trade zone that falls outside the purview of both domestic and international regulators.
21.
The demonstrations began following charges being brought against Zoran Zaev, the opposition leader, who responded by alleging that Nikola Gruevski had had 20,000 Macedonian officials and other figures wiretapped, and had covered up the murder of a young man by a police officer in 2011.
22.
In December 2017, Nikola Gruevski resigned as leader of the VMRO-DPMNE, following the party's major defeat by the Social Democratic Union in local elections.
23.
On 23 May 2018, Nikola Gruevski was sentenced to two years in prison for unlawfully influencing government officials in the purchase of the luxury bulletproof car.
24.
Nikola Gruevski was seen as having particularly close relations with the right-wing national conservative Fidesz's head, and Prime Minister of Hungary, Viktor Orban, who opposed the Prespa agreement between Greece and Macedonia and supported VMRO-DPMNE's hardline position against it.
25.
Orban has reportedly described Nikola Gruevski's escape as "an interesting story, exciting, like all crime stories".
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However, according to Bulgarian authorities, Nikola Gruevski has never applied for Bulgarian citizenship.
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Interpol alerted that Nikola Gruevski is wanted under an international arrest warrant and the Macedonian government filed a formal extradition request.
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On 20 November 2018, Nikola Gruevski was granted political asylum by the Hungarian authorities.
29.
On 27 June 2019, Nikola Gruevski appeared handcuffed in a court in Budapest on a hearing closed for the public for his extradition requested by North Macedonia.
30.
Furthermore, in October 2020, Nikola Gruevski was named in a new money laundering probe launched by the authorities in North Macedonia.