Siljanovska Davkova takes office as president of N. Macedonia

Siljanovska Davkova is the country's sixth president and its first female president, the parliament said in a press release on Sunday.

"I will be president of both the left and the right. I will be the president of all citizens. I will not discriminate on the basis of ethnicity, religion, gender or any other basis," Siljanovska Davkova said at the inauguration.

She is succeeding Stevo Pendarovski, who served as North Macedonia's president since 2019.

Siljanovska Davkova, a candidate of the nationalist VMRO-DPMNE, secured a commanding victory with 65.14% of the votes in the second round of the presidential elections held on May 8, after establishing a significant lead in the first round held on April 24. Pendarovski, nominated by SDSM, won 29.25% of the votes in the second round of the presidential elections.

VMRO-DPMNE also secured victory in the general elections, which coincided with the second round of the presidential elections. The VMRO-DPMNE-led coalition Tvoja Makedonija won 43.32% of the votes in the elections for members of parliament, whereas Koalicija za Evropska Idnina, a coalition led by the ruling left-wing SDSM party, was backed by only 15.37%, according to the final results of the elections released by the State Election Commission (SEC).