In North Macedonia, the Social Democrats have returned to government. One and a half months after the election, the parliament in Skopje yesterday approved the new government alliance between the Social Democrats and the largest party of the Albanian minority, the Democratic Union for Integration (DUI). The social democrat Zoran Zaev took over the office of head of government again.
62 MPs in the 120-member parliament voted for the new government coalition. The vote came shortly before a deadline of midnight to confirm a new government. Zaev announced a „period of order, justice and discipline“.
Narrow victory for the Social Democrats in July
In the parliamentary elections in mid-July, the Social Democrats had won a wafer-thin victory over the nationalist camp. However, they have not been able to secure enough seats to rule alone. It was the first parliamentary election since the historical name change of the country that was formerly called Macedonia.
Zaev resigned as head of government in October 2019 after the EU did not initially give the green light for official accession negotiations with North Macedonia as promised. After that, a cabinet of technocrats temporarily took over government affairs.
Zaev is aiming for his country to join the EU as soon as possible. During the election campaign, he had advertised, among other things, with his success in admitting the country to NATO. North Macedonia has been a member of the military alliance since last March.
