North Macedonia to hold presidential runoff election

Today, North Macedonia is holding a presidential runoff after no candidate reached the required 50% of the vote to win in the first round.

The small Balkan country has been striving for EU membership for almost 20 years, but progress on this path has been delayed due to several disagreements with Bulgaria and Greece. The population of North Macedonia has demonstrated strong support for the EU accession, however, over time, this indicator has declined as people have lost faith that their ruling SDSM socialist party will achieve this goal. Now, the results of the first round have shown a sharp shift toward the main opposition party VMRO-DPMNE, whose agenda is very promising regarding EU accession.

Aside from disputes with neighbors, North Macedonia faces a range of political and economic challenges. The country’s standard of living deteriorated significantly during the COVID-19 pandemic, while Russia’s conflict with Ukraine further complicated matters due to high energy prices and disruptions in supply chains. This, coupled with strong political polarization which significantly hampers parliament’s effectiveness, does not bode well for North Macedonia’s swift progress towards EU membership. If the new ruling coalition manages to achieve consensus on key domestic policy issues, this could potentially have a positive impact on the country’s image. However, it will not be able to overshadow existing problems such as high levels of corruption and a poorly regulated framework for the protection of fundamental rights, which only partially aligns with EU standards.