Right-wing opposition wins elections in North Macedonia

The right-wing opposition wins the parliamentary and presidential elections in North Macedonia on Wednesday

With almost all the votes counted, the right-wing nationalist party VMRO-DPMNE won 43.2% of the vote and will have 59 seats in the 120-seat parliament, the electoral commission said. The right-wing party will replace the Social Democratic Union of Macedonia (SDSM), which has been in power since 2017. The SDSM, led by former Prime Minister Dimitar Kovacevski, won just 15.3% of the vote. Support for the party has fallen to less than half of what it won in the previous parliamentary elections four years ago.

On election night, Kovacevski congratulated his political opponents on their victory.

VMRO-DPMNE leader Hristijan Mickoski is likely to become the next Prime Minister of a NATO country

The Electoral Commission announced that VMRO-DPMNE candidate Gordana Siljanovska-Davkova won the second round of the presidential elections, also on Wednesday, with 65% of the vote. She defeated the SDSM-backed incumbent, Stevo Pendarovski, who in turn defeated Siljanovska-Davkova in the second round five years ago.

During the election campaign, the opposition accused the SDSM and the ethnic Albanian union DUI, which ruled alongside it, of poor and corrupt governance. VMRO-DPMNE has adopted a nationalist tone and a confrontational course towards its neighbors, Greece and Bulgaria. This concerns the country's name, changed from Macedonia to North Macedonia in 2019 after the agreement with Athens, and minority rights.

Political disagreements with Greece and Bulgaria could make it more difficult for North Macedonia to join the EU

A tougher stance towards Greece could significantly complicate EU accession negotiations starting in July 2022. EU members Greece and Bulgaria have veto power at almost every stage of the talks.

Mickoski will need partners to form a government. Ethnic Albanian parties are crucial in this respect, as this ethnic group makes up around a quarter of the population of the small Balkan country. The DUI, which has co-ruled almost all coalitions over the last 20 years, received just over 14% of the vote but is not considered a partner by VMRO. The opposition alliance of Albanian parties, known as the VLEN coalition, received 10.7% of the vote and is seen as a possible partner for VMRO in government.

Based on ELTA reports