North Macedonia’s Prime Minister Zoran Zaev resigned late on Sunday following his party’s loss in the second round of mayoral elections, including in the capital of Skopje.
“I take responsibility for these developments,” said the leader of the Social Democrats. “I resign from the post of prime minister and party president.”
Mr Zaev said there was no need for an early election, and the Social Democrats coalition is allowed by law to agree on another candidate for prime minister without the need for a new vote. National opposition VMRO-DPMNE party leader Hristijan Mickoski called for a snap election.
READ MORE: Greece protests violation of Prespes Agreement by North Macedonian VMRO minister
Last year, Mr Zaev’s party won by a narrow margin ahead of VMRO-DPMNE.
Mr Zaev, who has led the country since 2017, managed to put his country on the path toward EU membership by agreeing to add “North” to its name. In this way, he resolved a long-standing name dispute with Greece, which viewed the name Macedonia and use of Greek symbols as a claim on Macedonia in Northern Greece.
Newly renamed North Macedonia joined NATO last year, however the EU has not yet given a green light for negotiations to begin regarding EU accession.
