Monday 17 January 2022
Looking for relaxation to Bulgaria
North Macedonia has new government
With a slim majority, the parliament in North Macedonia elects the social democrat Kovacevski as the new prime minister. Economy, Corona and the relationship with neighboring Bulgaria are his most important tasks. Sofia blocks bioslang EU accession negotiations.
Dimitar Kovacevski is the new Prime Minister of North Macedonia. The parliament in Skopje elected the Social Democrat and his cabinet to office overnight with a majority of 62 out of 120 votes, the news portal makfax.com.mk reported. The former deputy finance minister succeeds his party colleague Zoran Zaev, who resigned after the poor result of the Social Democratic League (SDSM) in the local elections last October.
The cabinet consists of twelve ministers from the SDSM and six and three respectively from the two Albanian parties DUI and Alternativa. The latter rejoined the coalition led by the SDSM after the Albanian Besa party switched to the opposition camp following Zaev’s resignation announcement.
In his program speech, Kovacevski named strengthening the economy, overcoming the corona pandemic and the energy crisis and regulating relations with neighboring Bulgaria as the most important goals of his government. The EU country Bulgaria is currently blocking the start of EU accession negotiations for North Macedonia because of historical and political demands.
Next Tuesday, the new Bulgarian Prime Minister Kiril Petkov will travel to Skopje. A breakthrough in the matter is not expected, however, the atmosphere could improve.