Pendarovski's victory in Macedonia a great encouragement for the region and multi-ethnic forces

LJUBLJANA, (Patria) - Director of the International Institute for Middle Eastern and Balkan Studies (IFIMES) from Ljubljana Zijad Bećirović assessed that the presidential elections in the Republic of North Macedonia represented the last chance for VMRO-DPMNE to “thwart” the plans of Zoran Zaev and the current government on its path to full membership in the EU and NATO and the “de-Gruevskization of the state.” 

The candidate of the Macedonian right, Gordana Siljanovska-Davkova, admitted on Sunday evening the victory of her opponent, pro-European politician Stevo Pendarovski, in the Macedonian presidential elections.

“The reactionary forces, led by VMRO-DPMNE with several of its satellites, hoped to return to power in a big way. Namely, they counted on the possible victory of Gordana Siljanovska Davkova to force early parliamentary elections and come back to power, ignoring everything they did to the state during their 11-year rule of the hated regime of Nikola Gruevski and his cousin Sašo Mijalkov, former head of the secret service, which illegally wiretapped 26,000 citizens. Gruevski's regime systematically looted and devastated the state. According to optimistic estimates, more than five billion euros were taken out (looted) from the country. Inter-ethnic relations were tense and on the brink of civil war. His rule was based on plunder and establishing a (balance) of fear. Macedonia was at odds with all its neighbors. He only had excellent relations with the regime in Belgrade,” Bećirović said in a comment for the Patria news agency.

The victory and election of Stevo Pendarovski as President of the Republic of North Macedonia, according to the director of IFIMES - an institute that regularly analyzes events in the Middle East and the Balkans - represents the finale of the transition of power in that country. Outgoing President Gjorge Ivanov, Bećirović points out, although a doctor of law, did not recognize or use the constitutional name of the state but still used the unconstitutional name Republic of Macedonia. He refused to sign laws passed by the Sobranie. Siljanovska Davkova behaved according to the same pattern, who never uttered the constitutional name of the state during the campaign, although she is a constitutional lawyer, the Republic of North Macedonia. VMRO-DPMNE also behaves in the same way all the time. 

“If it had happened that Siljanovska Davkova had won, it would simply have meant that Nikola Gruevski had won, who still pulls the key strings in VMRO-DPMNE from exile in Budapest and conspires with the Russians,” Bećirović believes. 

The director of IFIMES, as well as some other analysts, points out that although Pendarovski, as a candidate of 31 political parties and all ethnic communities, which represents a novelty in North Macedonia but also in the region, became the president of the state, this is at the same time a final warning to Zoran Zaev and his government that it must carry out a thorough reconstruction of the government and reform the country. 

“This primarily refers to judicial reform, economic recovery of the state, and stopping the emigration trend, because the citizens of that country are eager for a better life and an increase in living standards. North Macedonia, which has a little over two million inhabitants, is a phenomenon, because the voter list has 1.8 million voters, and of that, almost half a million do not live in the country, but are on the voter list. That is why there is such a big problem with securing the electoral threshold, and the state awaits a reform of the electoral legislation,” Bećirović believes.

He adds that Pendarovski's victory is actually a victory for Zoran Zaev's policy and the concept of “One society for all,” but it is also a great encouragement for the region and multi-ethnic forces and a strong message that the spirit of Zoran Zaev and North Macedonia will spread throughout the region and lead to strong changes. Therefore, says Bećirović, many current rulers in the region are opponents of Zaev and his policy, “because many of them await the fate of Gruevski, and their parties the fate of VMRO-DPMNE.”

Pendarovski's victory in the presidential elections in Macedonia was assessed by many European officials as a continuation of cooperation between North Macedonia and the European Union.