Hristijan Mickoski, the leader of the opposition center-right VMRO-DPMNE party, casts his ballots at a polling station in Skopje, May 8, 2024.
NATO member North Macedonia has been a candidate to join the EU since 2005 but was blocked by successive disputes with neighbors Greece and Bulgaria as well as slow progress on some reforms required for membership to advance.
Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro and Serbia are also seeking membership.
Skopje resident Gordana Gerasimovski said she was disappointed that the country had been waiting for so long to join the EU but hoped for real progress now.
“We should have been part of the European Union a long time ago,” she said. “This is what we are lacking, but we hope that with time we will get to where we have wanted to be for so long.”
More than 2,300 domestic and international observers were authorized to monitor the election.
Source link : https://www.voanews.com/a/north-macedonia-holds-elections-dominated-by-the-country-s-path-to-eu-membership-and-corruption-/7602639.html
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Publish date : 2024-05-08 07:00:00
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