Related articles and links |  1 of 4

Trajkovski won't go it alone, however. He traveled 4,000 miles in January from the Macedonian capital of Skopje to have breakfast and pray with fellow Christians at the National Prayer Breakfast in Washington, D.C. Trajkovski lives out his Methodist faith in a country of 2 million people that barely registers a Protestant presence. Most Macedonians are Orthodox and more than one-fourth are Muslims of Albanian descent.

Despite the worries of being a head of state, Trajkovski has guileless eyes and a ready smile. During a lengthy interview with Christianity Today, Trajkovski laughs on hearing that some American supporters refer to him as the George W. Bush of Macedonia. "There are some similarities. His faith is very important to him."

Elected president in 1999, Trajkovski shares power with Ljupco Georgievski, the prime minister. Trajkovski directs all of Macedonia's security matters, including the army, police, and intelligence services, as well as its foreign policy. The more politically powerful prime minister executes the day-by-day domestic policies through the country's Parliament.

"I feel lonely sometimes," admits Trajkovski, who is almost 45. "I really struggle, and so I read the Bible. Isaiah 54 is my favorite for encouragement." The prophet's words remind the president that God's compassion extends even to tiny Macedonia and its fractious people.

Mountain passes make the country an important transportation hub for its neighbors. They make invasions easier, too. "Macedonia controls access to the sea, and all our supplies have to come through it," says one senior American NATO official. The country seceded peacefully from Yugoslavia in 1991. Compared with other states in the region, ethnic and religious groups in Macedonia live in relative harmony, although Muslim rebels launch sporadic grenade attacks against police.

During the recent conflict between Serbia and Kosovo, many Orthodox Macedonians were sympathetic to the Serbs (majority Orthodox). That sympathy increased tension with Muslim Macedonians who favor Kosovo, which has a Muslim majority. Neighboring Albania adds another level of ethnic complexity to the region since ethnic Albanians, mostly Muslims, live throughout the region, including Macedonia. "You can see that, sociologically, [Slavic] Macedonians and Albanians don't even like each other very much," says Saso Ordanski, editor of the Macedonian Forum magazine. "But they tolerate each other in this multiethnic democracy."

In late March, after a Macedonian police officer (a Slav) was killed in an Albanian Muslim neighborhood, Trajkov-ski swiftly gathered a diverse group of political leaders. The president has personal credibility, but not much room to maneuver. "Time here is a big factor," Ordanski tells CT. The ethnic Albanians, after seeing that Trajkovski spoke in support of laws to treat their fellow Muslims more justly, agreed to condemn the killing. Trajkovski had passed an important test of his skill in domestic politics.

next page... |  1 of 4

May 21 2001, Vol. 45, No. 7