According to the election authority, Gordana Siljanovska-Davkova had nearly 40 percent of the votes early Thursday.
North Macedonia the biggest winner in the first round of the presidential election was the candidate of the main opposition party. According to the country's election authority With Gordana Siljanovska-Davkova had nearly 40 percent of the votes, while 90 percent of the votes had been counted early on Thursday.
Incumbent president Stevo Pendarovski was in second place in the results, with about 20 percent of the vote.
The duo will advance to the second round of the election, which will be held on the eighth of May. There were a total of seven candidates in the election, but Pendarovski and Siljanovska-Davkova were considered early favorites.
The presidential election the final result can partly show the direction of when the country could consider becoming a member of the EU.
Pendarovski favors concessions to neighboring Bulgaria, which has demanded that North Macedonia recognize the status of the country's small Bulgarian minority in the constitution before Bulgaria agrees to start EU membership talks with North Macedonia.
The main opposition party VMRO-DPMNE, represented by Siljanovska-Davkova, refuses to make concessions. According to the party, the constitution can be changed after North Macedonia has become a member of the EU.
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