Metodi Stamboliski ( mk, Методи Стамболиски, born 10 April 1947,

Mačevo Mačevo ( mk, Мачево) is a village in the Berovo Municipality of North Macedonia North Macedonia, ; sq, Maqedonia e Veriut, (Macedonia before February 2019), officially the Republic of North Macedonia,, is a country in Southeast ...

) is a former Macedonian

general A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of highest military ranks, high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers t ...

who served as the Chief of General Staff of the

Army of the Republic of Macedonia An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

(2001–2004).

Biography

Stamboliski was born on 10 April 1947 in the village of

, located in the eastern

Republic of Macedonia North Macedonia, ; sq, Maqedonia e Veriut, (Macedonia before February 2019), officially the Republic of North Macedonia,, is a country in Southeast Europe. It gained independence in 1991 as one of the successor states of Yugoslavia. It ...

(then part of the

Socialist Federative Republic of Yugoslavia The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as SFR Yugoslavia or simply as Yugoslavia, was a country in Central and Southeast Europe. It emerged in 1945, following World War II, and lasted until 1992, with the breakup of Yugo ...

). He had two sisters and three brothers, one of whom also became an officer in the

Yugoslav People's Army The Yugoslav People's Army (abbreviated as JNA/; Macedonian and sr-Cyrl-Latn, Југословенска народна армија, Jugoslovenska narodna armija; Croatian and bs, Jugoslavenska narodna armija; sl, Jugoslovanska ljudska a ...

(JNA).

Education

He graduated from a high school in the town of

Berovo Berovo ( mk, Берово, ) is a small town near the Maleševo Mountains, from Skopje, from Strumica and from Kočani, in North Macedonia. It is the seat of Berovo Municipality. Demographics According to the 2002 census, the town had a tot ...

in 1966 and later attended the Academy of the Yugoslav People's Army Ground Forces in

Belgrade Belgrade ( , ;, ; Names of European cities in different languages: B, names in other languages) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city in Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers a ...

, specializing in artillery.''Bulgarian Army'' (Българска армия) magazine. Published 15 March 2002.

Military career

Stamboliski became an artillery platoon command and eventually rose up to command an artillery regiment in the JNA. After the formation of the

, he became the chief of the operations management in the General Staff. In 1995 Stamboliski was appointed the commander of the 3rd Army Corps in

Skopje Skopje ( , , ; mk, Скопје ; sq, Shkup) is the capital and largest city of North Macedonia. It is the country's political, cultural, economic, and academic centre. The territory of Skopje has been inhabited since at least 4000 BC; r ...

, and the following year he commanded the 2nd Army Corps in

Bitola Bitola (; mk, Битола ) is a city in the southwestern part of North Macedonia. It is located in the southern part of the Pelagonia valley, surrounded by the Baba, Nidže, and Kajmakčalan mountain ranges, north of the Medžitlija-Níki ...

. Stamboliski was promoted to

brigadier general Brigadier general or Brigade general is a military rank used in many countries. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries. The rank is usually above a colonel, and below a major general or divisional general. When appointed ...

by a presidential decree on 18 August 1997. On February 11 of that year, he was given command of the border guard brigade and later promoted to

major general Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...

. He became a

lieutenant general Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a three-star military rank (NATO code OF-8) used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the ...

on 18 June 2001 and took office as the Chief of General Staff of the Army of the Republic of Macedonia on 9 August 2001. Stamboliski was promoted to

by presidential decree. In 2004, Stamboliski was replaced as the Chief of General Staff by Gjorgji Bojadžiev.

Arms scandal

In the summer of 2007, General Stamboliski was arrested on charges of abuse of power regarding the purchasing and selling off of spare parts for the ARM's

T-55 The T-54 and T-55 tanks are a series of Soviet main battle tanks introduced in the years following the Second World War. The first T-54 prototype was completed at Nizhny Tagil by the end of 1945.Steven Zaloga, T-54 and T-55 Main Battle Tanks ...

tanks donated by

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...

, which cost the country 2.5 million euros (3.18 million U.S. dollars). He was also charged with embezzling 1.8 million Euros (about US $2.5 million) but released on bail. Later in 2008, Stamboliski, along with former

Minister of Defense A defence minister or minister of defence is a cabinet official position in charge of a ministry of defense, which regulates the armed forces in sovereign states. The role of a defence minister varies considerably from country to country; in som ...

Vlado Bučkovski Vlado Bučkovski ( mk, Владо Бучковски; born 2 December 1962) is a former prime minister of the Republic of Macedonia, elected by parliament on 17 December 2004. He was previously the defense minister of Macedonia from May 2001 to No ...

and two other defense ministry officials, were found guilty. The former chief of general staff was jailed for three and a half years.Macedonia's ex-PM jailed for abuse of power
/ref>

References

Sources

Bulgarian Wikipedia The Bulgarian Wikipedia ( bg, Българоезичната Уикипедия) is the Bulgarian-language edition of Wikipedia. It was founded on 6 December 2003, and on 12 June 2015 it passed the 200,000 articles threshold. It is written in ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stamboliski, Metodi 1947 births Living people People from Berovo Municipality Yugoslav People's Army personnel Army of North Macedonia personnel