N. Macedonia’s Zaev to form govt that ‘won’t veer away from road to EU’

The president of North Macedonia on Thursday handed a mandate to pro-Western ex-PM Zoran Zaev to form a new government after his party bloc narrowly won a July 15 election.

“I will lead a government that will not… veer away from the road leading to membership of the European Union after obtaining membership of NATO,” Zaev said.

The Social Democratic leader will have 20 days to ensure the support of parties representing Macedonia’s ethnic Albanian minority before getting the green light to form a cabinet, Reuters said.

Zaev, who had led the previous government of the former Yugoslav republic since 2017, put the country on a path toward EU membership by agreeing to add “North” to its name.