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North Macedonians are heading to the polls for the primary spherical of presidential elections on Wednesday, adopted by a second spherical on Might 8.
Pendarovski, the present president of North Macedonia, whose candidacy for a second time period is supported by the pro-EU ruling Social Democratic Union of Macedonia (SDSM), and Gordana Siljanovska-Davkova, candidate of the opposition conservative social gathering VMRO DPMNE, are presently favored to succeed in the second spherical.
Critics of the media regulation modification say state promoting can limit press freedom by leaving media shops financially depending on the federal government, resulting in self-censorship and biased reporting.
It may also be used as a software to reward or punish media shops based mostly on their protection of presidency actions, which finally creates a hostile surroundings for impartial journalism and undermines the watchdog function of the press, one main home journalist mentioned.
“It’s an try and return state promoting to the media earlier than the elections,” Mladen Čadikovski, president of North Macedonia’s Affiliation of Journalists, advised POLITICO. “All that’s carried out via a shortened process and by abusing the European flag,” he mentioned, including that the modification was falsely offered as complying with EU media legal guidelines, which the candidate nation must undertake finally if it turns into a member of the bloc.
Brussels opened accession negotiations with North Macedonia in July 2022.
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