Presidential elections are being held Wednesday in North Macedonia, a small Balkan country that has orbited the European Union for nearly two decades with little to show for its efforts to join the 27-nation bloc. A second round of voting is almost certain to follow on May 8 — coinciding with parliamentary elections — as no candidate is expected to exceed the 50% threshold required for outright victory.
The two have differed on how to deal with neighboring Bulgaria's insistence on Skopje enshrining in its constitution recognition of a Bulgarian ethnic minority. EU member Bulgaria has said it will otherwise block North Macedonia's bloc membership bid. North Macedonia has been a candidate to join the EU since 2005, but membership talks only began in 2022 and the process is expected to take years.