Vasko Gjurčinovski (; born June 11, 1970) is a

general officer A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air force, air and space forces, marines or naval infantry. In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colone ...

of the

Army of North Macedonia The Army of the Republic of North Macedonia (, ARSM) is the military of North Macedonia. The army is organized, prepared and trained to conduct armed struggle and combat and other actions to achieve its constitutional function of defending the ...

and the 11th and current

chief of defence A chief of defence (or head of defence) is the highest ranked Officer (armed forces), commissioned officer of a nation's armed forces. The acronym CHOD is in common use within NATO and the European Union as a generic term for the highest national ...

. Born in

Tetovo Tetovo (, ; , sq-definite, Tetova) is a city in the northwestern part of North Macedonia, built on the foothills of Šar Mountain and divided by the Pena (river), Pena River. The municipality of Tetovo covers an area of at above sea level, wit ...

, he obtained secondary and higher education in the Yugoslav military schools and academies in

Sarajevo Sarajevo ( ), ; ''see Names of European cities in different languages (Q–T)#S, names in other languages'' is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 2 ...

and

Belgrade Belgrade is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin, Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. T ...

. He graduated in 1991, during the

breakup of Yugoslavia After a period of political and economic crisis in the 1980s, the constituent republics of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia split apart in the early 1990s. Unresolved issues from the breakup caused a series of inter-ethnic Yugoslav ...

. After serving briefly in the JNA in

Zagreb Zagreb ( ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, north of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the ...

, in 1992 he continued his service in the newly formed Army of the Republic of Macedonia. He was part of the first

special operations Special operations or special ops are military activities conducted, according to NATO, by "specially designated, organized, selected, trained, and equipped forces using unconventional techniques and modes of employment." Special operations ma ...

unit of the Army. From 2008 to 2009 he participated in

UNIFIL The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (; ), or UNIFIL (; ) is a United Nations peacekeeping mission established on 19 March 1978 by United Nations Security Council Resolutions 425 and 426, and several further resolutions in 2006 to con ...

as a

staff officer A military staff or general staff (also referred to as army staff, navy staff, or air staff within the individual services) is a group of officers, enlisted, and civilian staff who serve the commander of a division or other large milita ...

at the Joint Operations Center in

Naqoura An-Naqoura (, ''Enn Nâqoura, Naqoura, An Nāqūrah'') is a municipality in southern Lebanon. Since March 23, 1978, the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) has been headquartered in An-Naqoura. Etymology According to E. H. Palmer ( ...

. From 2011 to 2013, he was the

adjutant Adjutant is a military appointment given to an Officer (armed forces), officer who assists the commanding officer with unit administration, mostly the management of “human resources” in an army unit. The term is used in French-speaking armed ...

of the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, the

President of the Republic The President of the Republic is a title used for heads of state and/or heads of government in countries having republican form of government. Designation In most cases the president of a republic is elected, either: * by direct universal s ...

Gjorge Ivanov Gjorge Ivanov (, ; born 2 May 1960) is a Macedonian academic and politician, who served as the President of (North) Macedonia from 2009 to 2019. Early life and education Ivanov was born in Valandovo on 2 May 1960. He finished primary and seco ...

. From 2013 to 2015, he was the commander of the Special Operations Regiment, which included the then two army special operations units, the Special Purposes Battalion, nicknamed Wolves, and the Ranger Battalion. From 2015 to 2016, he headed the Army's Joint Operations Command. From 2016 to 2018, he was the military representative of Macedonia to

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

. In 2018, he was appointed

Chief of the General Staff of the Army Chief may refer to: Title or rank Military and law enforcement * Chief master sergeant, the ninth, and highest, enlisted rank in the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Space Force * Chief of police, the head of a police department * Chief of the boat ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gjurchinovski, Vasko 1970 births Yugoslav People's Army personnel Army of North Macedonia personnel Living people People from Tetovo