Radmila Shekerinska took office as NATO Deputy Secretary General on 2 December 2024. As a former Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence of North Macedonia, Ms Shekerinska has extensive experience as a policy-maker and consensus-builder. She served two terms as Minister of Defence of North Macedonia (2017-2020, 2020-2022), the first woman in that post and the longest-serving since the country’s independence. In this capacity, she was instrumental in preparing North Macedonia to join NATO. Under her leadership, North Macedonia increased its contributions to NATO missions and operations and became NATO’s 30th member in 2020. Ms Shekerinska served as a four-term member of parliament (1998-2002, 2006-2014) and is the only woman to have led any of the major political parties in North Macedonia. As Deputy Prime Minister in charge of European Integration and Foreign Aid Coordination (2002-2006), she oversaw North Macedonia’s application to become a candidate country for accession to the European Union.