The leader of VMRO-DPMNE and likely future prime minister, Hristijan Mickoski, did not have time to deliver his winning speech. Fireworks erupted in the capital Skopje as news of an easy victory for the nationalists spread.
The VMRO-DPMNE and its candidate Gordana Siljanovska-Davkova had already come well ahead in the first round of the presidential election on April 24.
Future tensions on a European scale
The return to power of the right-wing opposition in this poor Balkan country, if confirmed, will notably revive tensions with neighboring Greece and Bulgaria, the latter country setting its conditions to advance the accession negotiations of North Macedonia to the EU.
Hristijan Mickoski has refused to recognize the country’s new name as North Macedonia, in line with a 2018 deal signed with Greece to end a long-running feud between Skopje and Athens. He also promised to show firmness in a standoff between Skopje and Bulgaria, which over the past two years has blocked negotiations for North Macedonia to join the European Union.
Hristijan Mickoski also promised to prioritize the economy and create tens of thousands of jobs, a message to which many voters in this poor country affected by galloping inflation are sensitive. Over the past two decades, North Macedonia has lost around 10% of its population due to mass emigration, with young people there having few future prospects.
During the campaign, Hristijan Mickoski resorted to increasingly incendiary rhetoric against the DUI, the country’s main Albanian party, sparking fears that his comments could undermine fragile inter-ethnic relations in the country.
