LONDON (AP) -- Alex Salmond, the former first minister of Scotland who for decades championed Scotland's independence from the U.K. and nearly accomplished it, has died. He was 69.

Salmond, who was a divisive figure in British politics and who as the then leader of the Scottish National Party took Scotland to the brink of independence in the 2014 referendum, died in the North Macedonia lake-resort town of Ohrid, local media reported.

"Unfortunately, Alex Salmond, the former first minister of Scotland who was one of the panellists at yesterday's cultural diplomacy forum that was held in Ohrid, died suddenly today," according to a statement from the office of former North Macedonia President Gjorgje Ivanov.

Tributes poured in from across the political spectrum, with U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer of the Labour Party calling him a "monumental figure" of both Scottish and British politics.

"He leaves behind a lasting legacy," Starmer said. "As first minister of Scotland, he cared deeply about Scotland's heritage, history and culture, as well as the communities he represented."

Salmond served as first minister of Scotland from 2007 to 2014, and was leader of the Scottish National Party on two occasions, from 1990 to 2000, and from 2004 to 2014. Salmond led the independence campaign in the referendum in 2014, but lost, gaining 45% of the vote, and subsequently resigned from the top job and replaced by his long-time ally, Nicola Sturgeon. Their split dominated Scottish politics for years.

"Obviously, I cannot pretend that the events of the past few years which led to the breakdown of our relationship did not happen, and it would not be right for me to try," Sturgeon said after learning of Salmond's death. "However, it remains the fact that for many years Alex was an incredibly significant figure in my life. He was my mentor, and for more than a decade we formed one of the most successful partnerships in U.K politics."

While taking a backseat in the party following his resignation after the referendum defeat, Salmond faced a series of sexual harassment allegations that he was subsequently acquitted of at the start of the coronavirus pandemic in early 2020. By then, he had already resigned from the SNP and fallen out with Sturgeon. He then created a new party called Alba -- the Scottish Gaelic word for Scotland -- that has made few inroads into Scottish politics.

The current SNP first minister, John Swinney, said that he was "deeply shocked and saddened at the untimely death" of Salmond.

"Over many years, Alex made an enormous contribution to political life, not just within Scotland, but across the U.K. and beyond," he said. "He took the Scottish National Party from the fringes of Scottish politics into government and led Scotland so close to becoming an independent country."

Salmond had said that he learned to dream of an independent Scotland at his grandfather's knee, and chose to join the SNP at university in 1973 when his English girlfriend poked too much fun at his separatist sentiments.

Salmond's academic and professional background prepared him to become Scotland's most economically optimistic and visionary politician. At St. Andrew's University. he double-majored in medieval history, reflecting his love of a Caledonia lost, and economics. In his 20s, he worked as an economist first for Britain's regional government in Scotland and then at the Royal Bank of Scotland, where he analyzed the country's most dynamic industry, North Sea oil.

He won a seat in the U.K. Parliament in 1987, and within three years was party leader. He supported Tony Blair's Labour government in the late 1990s to create a devolved Scottish parliament in Edinburgh, a reform that stopped short of independence, but gave his homeland a taste of self-government for the first time since its 1707 union with England.

Salmond then had a very public forum to push his dream of full independence forward -- his government had an array of powers especially on social issues -- and managed to convince the government of Conservative Prime Minister David Cameron to call a referendum. Up until the results were known, it had been considered a close call.

Though the independence campaign lost, Salmond's SNP managed to capitalize its support and has dominated Scottish politics since. The SNP has been the Edinburgh-based government since, though it suffered a huge setback in this year's U.K.-wide general election, when it lost a vast majority of the seats it held in the House of Commons to Labour. The next Scottish election is due to take place in 2026.

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Demetris Nellas contributed to this report from Athens, Greece.