North Macedonia election reform stalls as parties clash

North Macedonia has missed a key European Union deadline on election reform after rival parties failed to agree on new voting laws.

Skopje was due to report its progress to Brussels this week, but talks broke down over how citizens living abroad cast their ballots.

Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski wants to introduce new electronic and postal voting systems for the diaspora.

The VMRO-DPMNE leader accused opposition parties of deliberately blocking the deal because they fear a higher turnout from abroad will cause them to lose elections.

The main opposition Social Democrats rejected the plan, warning that remote voting without strict checks threatens ballot secrecy and opens the door to fraud.

The party vowed to block the changes, calling the government's proposal an attempt to steal votes.

The opposition Levica party also dismissed the measures, stating European election observers never recommended electronic voting and arguing the government is ignoring wider reforms to voting zones.

The deadlock is further complicated by ethnic Albanian parties, with the DUI demanding the country shift to a single voting zone with open candidate lists.

Meanwhile, the Albanian League supports voting from abroad, but argues the rules must also apply to local municipal elections.

Following the collapse of talks, Mr Mickoski insisted his government will serve its full term until 2028, rejecting opposition demands for early parliamentary elections.