Republic of Macedonia Leaders Stats

Professor Gjorgje Ivanov was sworn in as Macedonia's fourth democratically-elected president on 12 May 2009, following his victory in the second round of the presidential election.

Although he was put forward as a presidential candidate by the governing VMRO-DPMNE party, he is not a member.

President Ivanov, who was born in 1960, has spent most of his professional life as a university law professor.

A key priority of Mr Ivanov's presidency has been to resolve Macedonia's long-standing name dispute with Greece.

His predecessor, Social Democrat Branko Crvenkovski, who was elected in 2004, won praise in the West for supporting reconciliation with the substantial Albanian minority.

Macedonia's presidents are directly elected for a five-year term. The president appoints the prime minister, and legislative power is vested in parliament.

Nikola Gruevski, leader of the centre-right VMRO-DPMNE, won a snap election in June 2011 - the party's third consecutive electoral victory.

The early election followed an opposition walkout in Parliament, sparked by allegations that the government was interfering in the media.

Following the 2011 election, Mr Gruevski formed a coalition government with Macedonia's largest Albanian party, the Democratic Union for Integration (BDI), which had been his coalition partner since the previous election.

Mr Gruevski said his priorities would be accession to the EU and Nato, fighting corruption and organised crime, boosting the economy and lowering unemployment.

He said he was willing to continue political dialogue with Greece over the use of the name Macedonia. But this cause has not been helped by his party's nationalistic policy of "ancient Macedonism" or "Antiquisation", in which ancient figures such as Alexander the Great and Philip of Macedon are claimed to be the forebears of modern Macedonians.

Mr Gruevski first become prime minister after the July 2006 election, and his party went on to win early elections in 2008.

The prime minister is a former World Bank economist and finance minister.