North Macedonia weathered a series of ethnically-charged incidents in 2023, a relatively calm period despite economic hardships, and opens 2024 with the prospect of a politician from the country’s ethnic Albanian minority becoming prime minister

The resounding victory of the conservative candidate Gordana Siljanovska (41,2% to 20,5%) over outgoing president Stevo Pendarovski, supported by Socialist Party, in the first round of the presidential elections reflects a general rising nationalist trend

Ahead of the double parliamentary and presidential elections, the main opposition VMRO DPMNE party, which is expected to win the elections, wants to eliminate the mechanism that imposes quotas on ethnic minority employees in the public sector

The presidential election campaign has officially opened; among the candidates, some promise EU membership, some want to make North Macedonia proud and restore its dignity and others promise an uncompromising fight against corruption and crime