Stevo Pendarovski was inaugurated as Macedonian President today in a ceremony in the Parliament. Speaker Talat Xhaferi led the ceremony, opting to speak in Albanian, which strongly emphasized the voting bloc to which Pendarovski owes his election.

Outgoing President Gjorge Ivanov was present, as was former President Branko Crvenkovski, but opposition leader Hristijan Mickoski was not invited by Pendarovski. Therefore, Pendarovski’s pledge in his address to work with the opposition could not be heard in person by the opposition leader.

Also in attendance were the presidents of Albania, Bulgaria, Serbia and Kosovo and the foreign ministers of Greece and Montenegro, as well as diplomatic envoys from Turkey, Poland and Slovenia.

I pledge to be the President of all citizens, of those who voted for me, of those who voted for the other candidates, and of those who didn’t vote. My first step will be to offer a hand of cooperation to the opposition, Pendarovski said to the attendees who again, did not include the opposition.

Pendarovski also promised to work to complete the process of bringing “North Macedonia” into NATO and the European Union, for which the country was forced to pay a high price and redefine its name and national identity.

Prime Minister Zoran Zaev was also absent but by his own choice – he is taking a regional vacation tour after the elections and sent Pendarovski a message of congratulations.

Also present at the event were religious and military leaders, representatives from the soon to be renamed Macedonian Academy of Arts and Sciences and Vilma Trajkovska, widow of late President Boris Trajkovski.