DUI candidate Arkin Yahiyi narrowly won the mayoral elections in Brvenica, a rural area near Tetovo which is evenly divided ethnically and became a test-case for the political parties.
VMRO-DPMNE candidate Stojancho Radichevski lost by 265 votes (4,442 for Yahiyi against 4,177 for Radichevski). VMRO won the elections in 2025, but Mayor Jovica Ilievski passed away recently.
Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski briefly commented that the party fought “alone against all” – indicating that his Albanian coalition VLEN sided with their usually bitter rivals DUI and voted along ethnic lines to support Yahiyi. SDSM also had a few hundred votes in the first round, and some even though their supporters are mostly ethnic Macedonians, some SDSM officials rejoiced in the victory for DUI, hoping it will create friction in the VMRO-VLEN coalition.
We were alone against all. We fought with our program and concept and they with the support of demographics, playing the national card and some Trojan candidates who drew votes away from us, said Mickoski after the elections.
The Prime Minister pledged that the Government will continue to support Brvenica in its regional development.
