Â鶹´«Ã½

Skip to main content

North Macedonia's prime minister resigns

Macedonian Prime Minister Zoran Zaev delivers a speech in front of the NATO flag during a ceremony at the government building in Skopje, Tuesday, Feb. 12, 2019. (AP Photo/Dragan Perkovksi) Macedonian Prime Minister Zoran Zaev delivers a speech in front of the NATO flag during a ceremony at the government building in Skopje, Tuesday, Feb. 12, 2019. (AP Photo/Dragan Perkovksi)
Share
PRISTINA -

North Macedonia's Prime Minister Zoran Zaev resigned on Sunday after his party lost the second round of mayoral elections in several towns in the country, including the capital Skopje.

"I take responsibility for these developments. I resign from the post of prime minister and party president," Zaev, whose Social Democrats are leading the ruling coalition, said in a press conference broadcast by local media.

Zaev said there was no need for an early election. By law the coalition could agree on another candidate for prime minister and form the government without a new vote.

The leader of the nationalist opposition VMRO-DPMNE party, Hristijan Mickoski, has called for a snap election.

Last year in a parliamentary vote a party alliance led by the Zaev's Social Democrats squeaked to a narrow victory ahead of VMRO-DPMNE.

Zaev had led the government of the former Yugoslav republic since 2017 and put the country on a path toward EU membership by agreeing to add "North" to its name.

That resolved a decades-old stand-off with Greece, which had viewed the name Macedonia as a claim on its province of the same name, and had blocked its neighbor's entry into both the EU and NATO. Newly renamed North Macedonia joined NATO last year.

The EU has not given a green light for negotiations yet.

Florian Bieber, a Balkans expert at the University of Graz, wrote on Twitter that Zaev's party's defeat in the mayoral elections "was in part self-inflicted (bad campaign, stagnating reforms) and due to failure of EU to deliver."

"No clear successor & will a new PM have momentum to re-start serious reforms?" he wrote.

(Reporting by Fatos Bytyci; Editing by Ivana Sekularac; Editing by Daniel Wallis)

CTVNews.ca Top Stories

B.C.’s Civil Resolution Tribunal has ordered WestJet to refund a family in full for their diverted flight and compensate them for associated costs.

opinion

opinion Kamala Harris needs another breakthrough to win in November

The sprint to the White House comes to its climactic end less than 45 days from now, and Washington political analyst Eric Ham says despite Kamala Harris's rising popularity, she's still in need of another breakthrough if she's to win the presidency.

On Sept. 20, Justice R.E. Nation of the Alberta Court of King's Bench found Craig McMorran guilty of fraud, money laundering and stealing a cottage from its rightful owners.

Local Spotlight

Giant gourds took over a Manitoba community this weekend.

Fire has destroyed a barn and 17,000 plants at a family-owned business in Lower Coverdale, N.B.

Before influencers on social media, Canada’s Jeanne Beker was bringing the world of high fashion down to earth and as Calgary’s Glenbow Museum gets a major make-over, it will include a new exhibition showcasing the pop culture icon.

A sea lion swam free after a rescue team disentangled it near Vancouver Island earlier this week.

A Nova Scotian YouTuber has launched a mini-truck bookmobile.

Cole Haas is more than just an avid fan of the F.W. Johnson Wildcats football team. He's a fixture on the sidelines, a source of encouragement, and a beloved member of the team.

Getting a photograph of a rainbow? Common. Getting a photo of a lightning strike? Rare. Getting a photo of both at the same time? Extremely rare, but it happened to a Manitoba photographer this week.

An anonymous business owner paid off the mortgage for a New Brunswick not-for-profit.

They say a dog is a man’s best friend. In the case of Darren Cropper, from Bonfield, Ont., his three-year-old Siberian husky and golden retriever mix named Bear literally saved his life.