In North Macedonia, the right-wing opposition has won the parliamentary and presidential elections. The VMRO-DPMNE, a nationalist party, received 43.1 percent of the vote and will have 59 mandates in the 120-seat parliament. This is a replacement for the Social Democratic SDSM, which has been in power since 2017.
The Social Democrats suffered a bitter defeat, losing well over half of their voters. With almost half of the seats in the new parliament, the right-wing opposition is in a comfortable position to choose their coalition partner. Opposition supporters celebrated in the streets of Skopje, while VMRO boss Mickoski declared it a historic victory for the Macedonian people.
Mickoski campaigned on a confrontational course against neighboring countries in the event of an election victory. The VMRO candidate also scored a clear victory in the runoff election for the office of the head of state. Bulgaria has demanded North Macedonia mention its minority in the constitution as a prerequisite for EU accession negotiations. The EU countries have the right to veto any progress in negotiations.
The right-wing victory reflects the disappointment of many with