The candidate of the largest opposition party, Gordana Siljanovska-Davkova of the nationalist VMRO-DPMNE, clearly won the first round of the presidential election in North Macedonia.
The 70-year-old law professor received 39.8% of the vote after 80% of the polling stations had been counted, the state election commission said late on Wednesday in Skopje.
Incumbent Stevo Pendarovski, 61, who is supported by the ruling Social Democrats (SDMS), was clearly behind Siljanovska-Davkova with 19.4% of the vote.
Foreign Minister Bujar Osmani appeared set to come third with 14.3% of the vote. He belongs to the co-governing Albanian party DUI.
As none of the candidates was likely to receive at least 50% of the vote, a run-off election on May 8 will decide who will hold the highest state office. A parliamentary election is also due to take place on the same day.
The president in North Macedonia primarily has protocol powers and the office is representative in nature.
The parliamentary election has far greater consequences. With the tailwind of the presidential election and against the backdrop of the general mood in the country, the VMRO-DPMNE, which ruled in a partly authoritarian manner from 2006 to 2016, could oust the Social Democrats from power in the election on May 8.
The EU opened accession negotiations with North Macedonia in July 2022. Under pressure from EU member Bulgaria, the small Balkan country must mention the Bulgarian minority in the preamble to its constitution so that more substantial accession talks can begin.
However, due to opposition from the VMRO-DPMNE, a two-thirds majority has not yet been found in parliament to amend the constitution accordingly.
The pro-European and pro-Western SDSM, which was renamed North Macedonia in 2019, has been in power in Macedonia since 2017.
The country joined NATO in 2020 after the government of former prime minister Zoran Zaev settled a name dispute with Greece.
Athens had insisted on the change because a region in northern Greece is named Macedonia.