Hristijan Mickoski takes office as Prime Minister of North Macedonia

Newly elected Prime Minister of North Macedonia Hristijan Mickoski has taken over from the outgoing technical Prime Minister Talat Jaferi, BGNES reports.

After the brief ceremony, the two had a meeting, without making a statement to the media.

Jaferi congratulated the newly elected Prime Minister Mickoski on his inauguration and wished him a successful and efficient work in the interest of all citizens of the Republic of North Macedonia.

The transitional government and state institutions have successfully met their obligation to organize free, fair and democratic electoral processes and have ensured a peaceful and democratic transfer of power. This is a contribution to the European behavior of the country, which is striving for full membership of the European Union, the two politicians agreed.

Jaferi pointed out that the country still needs reforms in order to improve the quality of life of citizens according to European democratic standards and values. Hopes were also expressed for high political awareness and cooperation around strategic priorities.

BGNES reminds that the government of Hristijan Mickoski was supported in the last minutes of 23 June by 77 MPs, 22 voted against, there were no abstentions.

The prime minister took the oath of office in parliament using the country's constitutional name - North Macedonia.

"I will perform the function of prime minister conscientiously and responsibly and will respect the constitution and laws of the Republic of North Macedonia," he said.

The government coalition is made up of VMRO-DPMNE, the Albanian coalition VLEN/Vredi and the ZNAM movement, which have a majority of 78 MPs in the 120-seat parliament.

MPs from the former ruling party Social Democratic Union /SDSM/ and the Left Party voted against the government, while MPs from the European Front (Democratic Union for Integration) left the session shortly before the vote.

There are 24 members in the new government, including the prime minister, 20 of them with portfolios. 15 of them are VMRO-DPMNE proposals. The remaining ministries are distributed among representatives of the coalition partners.

Prime Minister – Hristijan Mickoski

Minister of Foreign Affairs - Timcho Mutsunski

Minister of Transport and Deputy Prime Minister - Aleksander Nikolovski

Minister of Defense - Vlado Misailovski

Minister for Finance - Gordana Dimitrijewska Koczowska

Minister for Local Self-Government - Zlatko Perinsky

Minister for Information Society and Digital Transformation - Stefan Andonovski

Minister for Sport - Borko Ristovski

Minister for Energy, Mining and Mineral Resources - Sanja Bojinovska

Minister for Agriculture, Forestry and Water - Cvetan Tripunoski

Minister for Culture and Tourism - Zoran Lutkov

Minister for the Interior - Pance Toskovski

Minister for Education and Science - Vesna Janewska

Minister for the Political System and Deputy Prime Minister - Ljupco Dimovski

Minister for Community Relations and Deputy Prime Minister - Ivan Stoilkovic

Minister for Integration and Implementation of the Decade of Roma - Shaban Saliu

From the Albanian coalition VLEN, Izet Medjiti will be Deputy Prime Minister and Arben Taravari Minister of Health; Fatmir Limani Minister of Social Policy, Demography and Youth, Besar Turmisi Minister of Economy; and Minister without Portfolio and Deputy Prime Minister in charge of Rule of Law Arben Fetai.

From the ZNAM movement, Igor Filippov will be minister of justice and Goran Minchev of public administration. | BGNES