North Macedonia’s New President Prefers The Country’s Old Name [Video]

SKOPJE — Longtime university professor Gordana Siljanovska-Davkova is preparing for the transition from teaching politics to practicing it following her landslide victory to unseat incumbent North Macedonia President Stevo Pendarovski.

Her triumph, more than doubling Pendarovski’s support alongside a win in parliament for her nationalist allies, is likely to fuel a more confrontational approach toward the European Union by the Balkan country of around 2.4 million people, who have endured a bumpy Westward path.

North Macedonia is a member of NATO and an EU candidate country, although its accession to the latter has been hobbled by ethnic and cultural disputes with its neighbors.

“My paths lead first to the Balkans, and, of course, Brussels is not excluded either,” Siljanovska-Davkova, 70, said on election night.

She coasted to a 35-percentage-point win over Pendarovski, who is aligned with the country’s previous center-left, pro-EU leadership, and quickly pledged to represent “all citizens, all …