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North Macedonia votes in presidential polls as EU membership bid looms

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North Macedonia votes in presidential polls as EU membership bid looms

The vote is the first in a series of polls that could decide whether the diverse Balkan country will ever join the EU.

Voting is under way in North Macedonia to elect a president ahead of an upcoming parliamentary election as the Balkan country continues to ponder its European Union membership bid.

The results of Wednesday’s polls are due later in the day, shortly after the polling stations close at 18:00 GMT.

The country has 1.8 million registered voters in a population of 2.3 million, and the turnout must be at least 40 percent for the result to be valid.

The 61-year-old incumbent President Stevo Pendarovski is a candidate of the pro-European Social Democrats running for a second five-year term and is challenged by the 70-year-old Gordana Siljanovska-Davkova from the opposition VMRO DPMNE coalition.

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The two offer different views on how to deal with neighbouring Bulgaria’s condition of securing a recognition of a Bulgarian ethnic minority in the constitution of North Macedonia, in exchange for its backing of Skopje’s EU bid.

Pendarovski and the ruling centre-left Social Democrats (SDSM) are prepared to make the amendments but lack the numbers to win a parliamentary vote.

The opposition coalition refuses to budge, saying any constitutional changes can come after North Macedonia joins the EU, a stance the government says is unrealistic.

EU membership talks for the Balkan state began in 2022 as part of a process expected to take years, and its candidacy for the 27-nation bloc dates back to 2005.

The country had already cleared another resistance to its membership bid from Greece in a 2019 move to change its name from Macedonia to North Macedonia. The Balkan state joined NATO in 2020.

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About 1.8 million registered voters can cast ballots on Wednesday for one of seven candidates who are competing for the largely ceremonial president’s post [Boris Grdanoski/AP Photo]

Voter Stavre Temelkovski told The Associated Press news agency that he had high expectations that North Macedonia would become a full-fledged EU member soon.

“I expect a civic movement to win, for us to be a part of all those pro-Western systems, and to start a process of healing for a state which has waited for almost three decades,” he said. “Many generations are exhausted.”

Parliamentary vote

The election on Wednesday comes ahead of a parliamentary vote on May 8.

If the presidential vote goes to a second round of voting, a possibility indicated by the results of state-released polls, a run-off vote will also be held on May 8.

The opposition’s Siljanovska-Davkova is expected to take 19.2 percent of the votes and Pendarovski 9.7 percent, according to state television. Foreign Minister Bujar Osmani, a candidate for the DUI party, is forecast to come third with 6.6 percent of votes.

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In total, seven candidates are running for the largely ceremonial position after less than a month of campaigning, with discussions also ranging from the rule of law, fighting corruption to reducing poverty.

North Macedonia
Ruling Social Democratic Union of Macedonia’s presidential candidate and North Macedonia’s President Stevo Pendarovski votes during the presidential election [Ognen Teofilovski/Reuters]
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Save the Dates: Clinton Kelly and Stacy London’s Return, Real Housewives Check Into Love Hotel and More

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Save the Dates: Clinton Kelly and Stacy London’s Return, Real Housewives Check Into Love Hotel and More


‘Wear Whatever The F You Want’ Release Date on Amazon



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Anti-Hamas protests break out in Gaza Strip over demands to end war

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Anti-Hamas protests break out in Gaza Strip over demands to end war

Anti-Hamas protests broke out in the northern Gaza Strip on Tuesday as hundreds of Palestinian men took to the streets to call for an end to the war with Israel.

Videos of the protest began circulating on social media on Tuesday and come as Israeli air strikes and offensive operations against Hamas have continued since the first phase of an internationally-brokered ceasefire ended earlier this month, before a second phase could be secured. 

One such video shared with Fox News Digital by the Center for Peace Communications showed protesters chanting, “Hamas get out!”

Palestinians attend a rally calling for an end to the war, in Beit Lahia, in the northern Gaza Strip, on March 25, 2025. (AFP via Getty Images)

ISRAEL ORDERS IDF TO SEIZE MORE GAZA TERRITORY IF HAMAS DOESN’T RELEASE HOSTAGES

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The man filming the protest provided his own commentary, which reportedly said, “Gaza’s people don’t want wars. They demand the end of Hamas’ rule. They demand peace.”

“Gazans turned out in anti-Hamas street demonstrations, braving gunfire and prison, in 2019 and again on July 30, 2023. This is the most substantial mass protest since then,” Joseph Braude, president of the Center for Peace Communications, told Fox News Digital. “It highlights Gazan aspirations to end the war by ending Hamas’ reign of terror, alongside the release of all hostages. 

“Gazans are expressing anger at Al-Jazeera and global media generally for covering only Hamas, ignoring the voices of Gazan civilians,” he added. “The more attention these brave souls get, the more they can help bring change for the better to Gaza and the broader region.”

Baby in Gaza

Palestinians flee to areas they consider safe following intensive attacks by the Israeli army on the northern Gaza towns of Beit Lahia and Jabalia, on March 25, 2025.  (Abd Khaled/Anadolu via Getty Images)

MOTHER OF INJURED HAMAS HOSTAGE DIRECTS PLEA TO ‘EVERY MOTHER IN THIS WORLD’ TO HELP SECURE SON’S RELEASE

Palestinian civilians have taken the brunt of Hamas’ brutal and deadly Oct. 7, 2023, attack, which resulted in the death of some 1,200 Israelis and the abduction of 251 others. Fifty-eight of those hostages remain in Hamas captivity, but only 25 are believed to still be alive 535 days later, including American hostage Edan Alexander. 

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The Hamas-run Gaza’s Health Ministry reported on Sunday that some 50,000 Palestinians have been killed, including 600 over the last four days after Israel officially ended the tenuous ceasefire by launching air strikes after negotiations on hostage releases stalled.

The ministry also reported that over 15,600 Palestinian children have been killed since Oct. 7, 2023. 

Hostage pic

A woman holds an image of hostage Edan Alexander during the Global Day of Unity and Prayer with Israel’s Hostages and Missing Families Forum, which represents the relatives of those taken captive during the Oct. 7 attack. (Yuri Cortez/AFP via Getty Images)

According to Israeli news agency TPS-IL, Gaza activist Hamza al-Masry also took to Telegram to share footage of the protest and said, “It is time for our people in all the governorates of the Gaza Strip to come out like them and to be united and united in one message. 

“The people of Gaza want to stop the torrent of bloodshed of our people, and enough is enough,” he added. 

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At least six people killed in Israeli attacks on southern Syria

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At least six people killed in Israeli attacks on southern Syria

The violence in the border area marks increased friction between Israel and Syria.

At least six people have been killed in an Israeli attack on Koya in southern Syria, the country’s foreign ministry says.

The Israeli military said the attack on Tuesday took place after armed fighters opened fire towards Israeli troops, without specifying whether the Israeli forces were located within Syrian territory when they were targeted. It said its troops returned fire and that an Israeli warplane struck the fighters. It gave no details on casualties but said “hits were identified”.

Syria’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned “the continued Israeli aggression on Syrian territory, which saw a dangerous escalation in the village of Kuwayya” in the southern Deraa province.

It called for an international investigation into the Israeli attacks on its territory, describing them as a “blatant violation of its sovereignty”.

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The Palestinian group Hamas condemned the attack on Koya “in the strongest terms”.

“This fascist aggression represents a serious escalation of Zionist violations against the Syrian Arab Republic and its brotherly people, and a new war crime,” it said on Telegram on Tuesday.

The violence in the border area comes at a time of rising tensions between Israel and Syria, where a new interim government led by President Ahmad al-Sharaa has been installed after opposition fighters toppled former leader Bashar al-Assad last December.

In the wake of al-Assad’s removal, Israel has launched hundreds of air strikes on military sites in Syria and sent its troops across the border into a UN-patrolled buffer zone, saying they will thwart any threats. Syria’s leadership has said it does not intend to open a front against Israel.

Earlier, the Israeli military said it had “struck military capabilities that remained at the Syrian military bases of Tadmur and T4”, referring to bases in Palmyra and another 50 kilometres (30 miles) west of the city. On Friday, the military carried out strikes on the same bases.

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The European Union’s foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas warned on Tuesday that Israel’s strikes on Syria “risk further escalation”.

Speaking at a joint news conference with Israel’s Foreign Minister Gideon Saar, Kallas said the pair had discussed Israel’s actions.

“And we [the EU] feel that these things are unnecessary, because Syria is right now not attacking Israel,” Kallas said.

The foreign ministry in Jordan also condemned Tuesday’s incursion and bombardment as “a dangerous escalation” that risked fuelling “further conflict and tension in the region”.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has demanded the demilitarisation of southern Syria, which borders the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights.

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United Nations Special Envoy for Syria Geir Pedersen told the Security Council on Tuesday that he was “concerned by Israeli statements on the intention to stay in Syria” and demands for the full demilitarisation of the south.

At an Arab summit in Cairo in early March, Syria’s al-Sharaa also called on the international community to pressure Israel to “immediately” withdraw its troops from southern Syria, calling their presence a “direct threat” to peace in the region.

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