Right-Wing Opposition Makes Gains in North Macedonia

• North Macedonia's right-wing opposition won both the parliamentary elections and the presidential run-off held on Wednesday in the Balkan country, home to 2M people. Reuters
• With nearly all the votes counted, the Your Macedonia coalition — under the leadership of Hristijan Mickoski of the VMRO-DPMNE party— received 43% of the votes to secure 58 of the parliament's 120 seats. Voice of America
• Three seats shy from an outright majority government, Mickoski has announced that the 22-party Your Macedonia would begin the search for a governing partner on Thursday. Associated Press (LR: 3 CP: 5)
• The ruling Social Democrats scored their worst-ever result, coming third with 18 seats — one less than its junior partner and ethnic Albanian DUI. Though the largest Albanian party is traditionally the kingmaker, the VMRO-DPMNE has opted for Vlen, which won 13 seats. Balkan Insight
• Meanwhile, Gordana Siljanovska-Davkova defeated Social Democrat incumbent Stevo Pendarovski in the race for the largely ceremonial presidential role, securing nearly 65% of the votes to become the country's first female head of state. Al Jazeera (LR: 2 CP: 1)
• International observers from the OSCE, Council of Europe, and European Parliament said in a statement on Thursday that the elections were competitive and peaceful, despite the negative tone of campaigning and the urgent need for reforms. Mia.mk

Narrative A:

• Frustration over the delay in North Macedonia's accession to the EU has prompted voters to side with the nationalist opposition — this choice is doomed to backfire. While the VMRO claims to support EU integration, it has yet to prove its commitment to the agenda, particularly because it seems to be willing to revive tensions with Bulgaria and Greece.
  KATHIMERINI

Narrative B:

• The incumbent socialists have falsely sought to instill fear that conservatives would threaten the country's EU accession to no avail. North Macedonians have given a clear mandate for Your Macedonia to put an end to the corruption and humiliation suffered under leftist leadership in a historic vote that saw the country's highest turnout in recent times.
  EUROPEANCONSERVATIVE

Nerd narrative:

• There's a 90% chance that North Macedonia will be part of the European Union in 2050, according to the Metaculus prediction community.
  METACULUS (LR: 3 CP: 3)