The Korea Herald

North Macedonia opposition wins big

North Macedonia’s right-wing opposition won big in parliament­ary and presidenti­al elections Wednesday, on a night that saw the Balkan country also elect its first female head of state.

Hundreds of jubilant supporters of the opposition VMRODPMNE party braved the rain outside their party headquarte­rs in downtown Skopje, waving national and party flags and dancing to folk music.

“Dear people of (North) ... we have made it.

Macedonia won. This is a historic victory of the people,” VMRO-DPMNE leader Hristijan Mickoski told the crowd.

Results from the election commission showed VMRO-DPMNE held 42 percent of votes with 72 percent of votes counted in the parliament­ary poll, versus 14 percent for SDSM, prompting SDSM leader Dimitar Kovacevski to concede defeat.

“The result is disappoint­ing and this is a big blow to SDSM,” Kovacevski told a news conference in which he also called for a thorough overhaul of his party.

Voters in the Balkan country of 2 million people have become frustrated with the sluggish

Macedonia advance of its bid to join the European Union, which was greeted with optimism in 2005 but has since become an emblem of North Macedonia’s lost promise.

Enduring corruption and slow developmen­t have also soured voters against the ruling party.

In the run-off vote for the more ceremonial role of president, Gordana Siljanovsk­aDavkova, a university professor who was backed by the VMRODPMNE, beat the SDSM-backed incumbent Stevo Pendarovsk­i in a landslide. Siljanovsk­a-Davkova had 65 percent of votes versus 29 percent for Pendarovsk­i, with more than 87 percent of votes counted.

“I was asking myself why did I deserve such an honor?” Siljanovsk­a-Davkova told reporters shortly after being voted in as the country’s first female president. “The reward is priceless for me, this is a huge responsibi­lity.”

The opposition will likely need to form coalitions with smaller partners to win a majority in parliament. Discussion­s are expected to take place in the coming days.

Some voters expressed worry that the opposition’s nationalis­t leanings could harm relations with neighborin­g countries and its EU bid. Analysts do not expect great advances in EU integratio­n under the opposition, which held power until 2017 and also came under fire for alleged graft.

“EU accession will not progress significan­tly under a potential VMRO-DPMNE government,” said Mario Bikarski,

Eastern and Central European analyst at risk consultanc­y Verisk Maplecroft.

In 2001, NATO pulled North Macedonia back from the brink of civil war during an ethnic Albanian insurgency and promised faster integratio­n into the EU and NATO. Albanians account for about a quarter of the population.

North Macedonia’s lack of EU progress has partly been due to frictions with neighborin­g Greece and Bulgaria, both EU member states, but also to a failure to press economic and judiciary reforms. The country joined NATO in 2020.

The center of the capital Skopje is dotted with unfinished or empty concrete and marble buildings erected during VMRODPMNE’s last tenure, which ended when SDSM took power in 2017. A concert hall that burned down months ago awaits renovation.

Some towns and cities are among the most polluted in Europe, due in part to coal consumptio­n and old cars. Much of the country’s youth has emigrated abroad in search of better prospects. (Reuters)