Crvenkovski, Branko, 1962–, North Macedonian political leader, b. Sarajevo, Yugoslavia (now in Bosnia and Herzegovina). An electrical engineer, he worked in industry before being elected to the National Assembly in 1990. In 1991 he became head of the Social Democratic Union of Macedonia (SDSM) and in 1992 became the first prime minister of what was then Macedonia when it seceded from Yugoslavia. He served in that position until late 1998, and again from 2002 to 2004. Crvenkovski worked to diffuse tensions between Macedonians and the ethnic Albanian minority and improve relations with Greece and other neighbors, but attempts at reform, including privatization, were less successful. In 2004 Crvenkovski was elected to the largely ceremonial post of president.
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