Slavjanka Petrovska (born January 11, 1982) is a

North Macedonia North Macedonia, ; sq, Maqedonia e Veriut, (Macedonia before February 2019), officially the Republic of North Macedonia,, is a country in Southeast Europe. It gained independence in 1991 as one of the successor states of Socialist Feder ...

n politician who has been the country's

Minister of Defense A defence minister or minister of defence is a cabinet official position in charge of a ministry of defense, which regulates the armed forces in sovereign states. The role of a defence minister varies considerably from country to country; in so ...

since January 2022.

Early life and education

Slavjanka Petrovska was born on January 11, 1982, in

Skopje Skopje ( , , ; mk, Скопје ; sq, Shkup) is the capital and largest city of North Macedonia. It is the country's political, cultural, economic, and academic centre. The territory of Skopje has been inhabited since at least 4000 BC; ...

. She completed her schooling there before graduating in law from the

Ss. Cyril and Methodius University of Skopje The Saints Cyril and Methodius University in Skopje ( mk, Универзитет „Св. Кирил и Методиј“ во Скопје) is the oldest and largest public university in North Macedonia. It is named after the Byzantine Christia ...

in Skopje. She is a candidate for a master's in administrative law at the same institution.

Career

Petrovska worked in the Secretariat on European Affairs from 2003 until 2006, then spent two years working the Assembly on International Cooperation. From 2008 until 2015, she worked for the National Council on Euro-Integration. Petrovska was in the Cabinet of the Minister of the Interior for two short stints in 2015 and 2016 and then Chief of Staff to the Minister from June 2017. From January 2020 til July 2020 she was a Deputy Minister of Interior for the

caretaker government A caretaker government is a temporary ''ad hoc'' government that performs some governmental duties and functions in a country until a regular government is elected or formed. Depending on specific practice, it usually consists of either randomly se ...

before the July 2020 parliamentary elections. She was then elected as a Member of the

Assembly of the Republic of North Macedonia The Assembly of the Republic of North Macedonia ( mk, Собрание на Република Северна Македонија, sq, Kuvendi i Republikës së Maqedonisë së Veriut), or the Sobranie ( mk, Собрание, "Assembly"), is t ...

for the ruling

SDSM The Social Democratic Union of Macedonia ( mk, Социјалдемократски сојуз на Македонија – СДСМ, ''Socijaldemokratski Sojuz na Makedonija'' – SDSM, sq, Lidhja socialdemokrate e Maqedonisë – LSDM) is a ...

party, serving on the legislative, oversight, and national security committees. Petrovska was appointed Minister of Defence by

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is ...

Dimitar Kovačevski Dimitar Kovačevski ( mk, Димитар Ковачевски, ; born 24 July 1974) is a Macedonian politician and economist serving as prime minister of North Macedonia since 17 January 2022. A member of the Social Democratic Union of Macedoni ...

on 17 January 2022. She said later that month that North Macedonia favoured a diplomatic solution to the Russia-Ukraine dispute, but would possibly get involved in the conflict if

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...

asked. On 1 March, she announced that North Macedonia would donate military material and equipment to Ukraine. In June 2022, Petrovska attended the inaugural US-North Macedonia Strategic Dialogue in

Washington DC ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

and in October 2022 she made a two-day official visit to

Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, and ...

for bilateral talks.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Petrovska, Slavjanka Living people 1982 births Ss. Cyril and Methodius University of Skopje alumni Politicians from Skopje Social Democratic Union of Macedonia politicians Members of the Assembly of North Macedonia Defence ministers of North Macedonia Women government ministers of North Macedonia Female defence ministers