North Macedonia is set for a presidential runoff after no candidate secured enough votes to win outright in the first round of balloting on Wednesday. The second round of voting on May 8 will coincide with parliamentary elections. Near-full results from the initial vote showed a significant shift in favor of the candidate backed by the center-right main opposition coalition, VMRO-DPMNE.
With about 92% of the votes counted, Gordana Siljanovska Davkova led with just under 40% of the votes. Incumbent President Stevo Pendarovski, seeking a second term with support from the governing social democrats, followed with nearly 20%. Foreign Minister Bujar Osmani, a government-allied candidate from the ethnic Albanian minority, secured 13.6% of the votes. Turnout was reported at 49.75%.
To win outright, a candidate needed to secure support from more than 50% of registered voters. As no candidate achieved this, Siljanovska Davkova and Pendarovski will face off in the presidential runoff.
Hopes are high in North Macedonia that the president will oversee the country's long-anticipated entry into the European Union. The small Balkan nation has been striving for EU membership for nearly two decades with limited progress.
Both Siljanovska Davkova and Pendarovski advocate for North Macedonia's EU membership. However, they differ on how to address neighboring Bulgaria's demand for recognition of a Bulgarian ethnic minority in Skopje's constitution, a requirement for North Macedonia's EU accession as per Bulgaria's stance.
North Macedonia has been an EU candidate since 2005, with membership talks commencing in 2022. The process is anticipated to be lengthy.
Voter Stavre Temelkovski expressed optimism about North Macedonia's EU prospects, hoping for a civic movement to prevail and integrate the country into pro-Western systems. He emphasized the need for healing in a state that has been waiting for EU membership for almost three decades.
