2024-04-26 18:20:43
Pendarovski took blow from the candidate of VMRO-DPMNE
A runoff will decide the vote for president in North Macedonia, and the 2 in 1 elections on May 8 will be decisive for relations with Bulgaria and the EU.
With a difference of over 176,000 votes, the VMRO-DPMNE candidate Gorana Silyanovska-Davkova led the race and dealt a blow to the current president Stevo Pendarovski from the SDSM.
With 100% of the votes counted, Siljanovska gathered 40.08% of voter support, while Pendarovski’s result
it was double smaller
– 19.93%. Voter turnout in the country reached almost 50%.
“I did not expect such a big difference”, said Siljanovska after the end of the election day and indicated that “the result is inspiring”. In front of supporters, Siljanovska said that she was proud of the people, and about Pendarovski she commented: “The second round of the elections is coming and I will treat whoever I am competing with with respect.”
“The results are not what we expected,” commented Pendarovski, urging Macedonians to vote in a second round. He assured that he remains on the principle of a “democratic European state”. SDSM chairman Dimitar Kovachevski also joined this rhetoric, saying that the party “will never give up on the European future”. According to him, the result is a “heavy blow” on the way to the EU, but “it is clear that people punished us for some mistakes, we accept it”.
Third in the elections is the current Foreign Minister Buyar Osmani, who collected 13.36%.
Analysts believe that the result of the presidential and parliamentary elections on May 8 in North Macedonia will also determine the country’s attitude towards Bulgaria and its membership in the EU.
Experts claim that if Siljanovska wins, the relations between Sofia and Skopje will further deteriorate. She is an open opponent of the inclusion of the Bulgarian minority in the constitution, often calling it a “Bulgarian dictate”, denies the treaty of good neighborliness with our country, and is against the Prespa Agreement.
Siljanovska’s election campaign was
saturated with anti-Bulgarianism,
with the party behind it further reinforcing this narrative. Pendarovski has also served with anti-Bulgarian rhetoric, but it pales in comparison to that of Siljanovska. The SDSM candidate, unlike his opponent, supports constitutional changes and is more European-oriented.