New Macedonian Government Confirmed, Nationalists Dominate

(Patria) - Lawmakers in North Macedonia approved a new government yesterday dominated by nationalists under Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski, whose party won the general elections in May, relying on voter anger over the slow pace of European Union integration.

The government was approved with 76 votes in favor and 22 against in the 120-seat parliament, HINA reports.

Mickoski's VMRO-DPMNE party won the parliamentary elections in May with 43.14 percent of the vote.

Macedonia has been an EU candidate since 2005.

After a years-long dispute with Greece, which demanded a name change for the country – so the country has been called North Macedonia since 2019, enabling its admission to NATO – its path to the EU is now blocked by Bulgaria due to disputes over language and national identity.

Since taking over VMRO-DPMNE in 2017, Mickoski has revamped the party shaken by the flight of former leader and prime minister Nikola Gruevski, accused of corruption, who found asylum in Hungary led by Viktor Orbán.