SKOPJE (North Macedonia), May 6 (SeeNews) – The candidate of the governing left-wing SDSM party, Stevo Pendarovski, has won North Macedonia’s presidential elections in a run-off vote, data released by the State Election Commission (SEC) indicated on Monday.
Based on 100% of the ballots counted, Pendarovski was elected for a five-year term with 51.66% of the vote on Sunday versus 44.73% for the candidate of opposition conservative party VMRO-DPMNE party, Gordana Siljanovska-Davkova.
Turnout was 46.70%, above the 40% threshold needed for the run-off vote to be valid.
Speaking shortly after polls closed, Pendarovski hailed the outcome of the vote as a great victory for North Macedonia and a demonstration of national unity.
“Together, we will build a state with a European future,” Pendarovski said in a statement posted on Facebook.
A total of 1.8 million people aged 18 and over were eligible to vote.
Sunday’s presidential elections were the sixth since the country proclaimed its independence from the former Yugoslav Federation in 1991 and the first since it changed its name.
Macedonia and Greece signed an agreement to change the name of the former Yugoslav republic to North Macedonia in June 2018. The agreement and the constitutional amendments related to the change in the name officially entered into force in February 2019, opening the way for North Macedonia to join NATO and the European Union.
In February, NATO member states signed an accession protocol with Macedonia after the Alliance launched formal accession talks with the country on October 18.
Athens had blocked Skopje’s attempts to join NATO and the EU for 27 years over the country's name. According to Greece, the name Republic of Macedonia implies territorial claims to the Greek northernmost province of the same name.
North Macedonia was granted EU candidate status in 2015 and hopes to launch membership negotiations later this year.