Who is Danela Arsovska: She survived the "Bulgarian affair" and led Zaev to resign

For the first time in the history of North Macedonia since its independence, a woman - Danela Arsovska - has come to head the capital, writes Nova.rs today.

The woman whose victory played a major role in the "political upheaval" in the Western Balkans when Macedonian Prime Minister Zoran Zaev resigned at a press conference.

Social Democrat Zoran Zaev is a politician who significantly changed North Macedonia after the long-term rule of the nationalist VMRO-DPMNE, starting first with its name and thereby resolving the historical dispute with Greece.

In addition to the Prespa Agreement, which resolved the dispute with Greece, North Macedonia joined NATO during the mandate of Zoran Zaev and his SDSM, but also launched the Open Balkans initiative together with Serbia and Albania.

Unfortunately, political punishment came, were the words Zaev used to describe the price for difficult political decisions.

The reason for his resignation was assuming responsibility after the results of the second round of local elections, in which the new mayor of Skopje was elected, independent candidate Danela Arsovska, who was supported by the largest opposition and nationalist VMRO-DPMNE.

"Your support means a lot to me and the fact that you trusted me to lead Skopje and be your man in the city. After hard battles, in this campaign my opponent was not only the old mayor, but also the outgoing prime minister. To my great satisfaction, Skopje has a woman mayor for the first time in 30 years," Arsovska said after the election victory.

In the second round for mayor, she convincingly defeated the candidate of the ruling Social Democratic Union of Macedonia, Petar Šilegov.

The nationalist and largest opposition party VMRO-DPMNE fell in 2016 due to numerous corruption scandals after their decade-long rule.

Its former leader, Nikola Gruevski, who served as prime minister for ten years, fled to Budapest to avoid a prison sentence for corruption, where he received the protection of the country's prime minister, Viktor Orban, who refused to extradite him to North Macedonia.

It was recently announced that the convicted Gruevski started a private business in Hungary.

Who is Arsovska?

Danela Arsovska was born in Skopje in 1979 and is a lawyer by profession.

She was further educated at the Universities of Oxford and Sheffield.

Behind the new mayor of Skopje is many years of experience in the business world and the economy.

Namely, in 2014, she was elected president of the Chamber of Commerce of North Macedonia, and she is also one of the founders of the Association of Women Entrepreneurs of North Macedonia.

Arsovska worked as an international expert and collaborated with major international organizations in the world.

By the way, in 2018, the newly elected mayor of Skopje took the highest position in the leadership of the World Chamber Federation as the only forum that manages more than 12.700 chambers of commerce around the world.

In 2019, Arsovska launched the Women in Climate Initiative, an action that began actively taking measures for institutions and the private sector to combat pollution.

In 2018, she received an award from a world business forum for "the best female example in the business world for Southeast Europe".

Arsovska was a member of the Council for Public-Private Partnerships in the Government of North Macedonia, and she was also a member of the National Council for European Integration of the Assembly of North Macedonia since 2016.

Accusations due to Bulgarian citizenship: "For whose interests does he work?"

By the way, during the election campaign, the Zaeva party, SDSM, discovered documents that allegedly prove that Danela Arsovska, as well as her husband, received Bulgarian citizenship from the Bulgarian authorities in 2011.

"Danela Arsovska has had a spare homeland for the last ten years. Whose interests is she working for? For (former Prime Minister of North Macedonia Nikola) Gruevski or for the Bulgarians," were the SDSM's accusations.

She was also asked to leave the election race, and Arsovska denied the documents that allegedly show that she was granted Bulgarian citizenship ten years ago.

Zaev also lost Ohrid

VMRO DPMNE declared victory in Skopje and more than 20 municipalities, including Bitola, Ohrid and Đevđelija, on Sunday evening.

"Macedonia must change and the changes start tonight," said the leader of the nationalist VMRO-DPMNE Hristijan Mickoski on that occasion.