Across The Balkans: North Macedonia’s Political Turmoil and Bulgaria’s Electoral Breakthrough

This episode looks at the political futures of two neighbours: Bulgaria and North Macedonia.
North Macedonia’s ruling party is trying hard to keep hold of power while conservative MPs are trying to form a majority to topple the leftwing government of Prime Minister Zoran Zaev. His SDSM party argues it needs to stay if the country is to join the EU, since they accuse the opposition VMRO-DPMNE of being anti-Western. But critics say the government in Skopje has already offered too many concessions without success. Bekim Laci speaks to both sides to find out if the political crisis could trigger a snap election.

In Bulgaria, the newly-formed centrist 'We Continue The Change' party, founded by two Harvard graduates, won this year's third parliamentary election after two inconclusive votes earlier in 2021. Rumen Radev, winning his second term in the presidential run-off, has urged the newcomers to quickly form a government and kick-start reforms. We talk to the country’s former Deputy Interior Minister Philip Gounevabout whether a coalition could be stable, and what challenges it would need to tackle first.

Across The Balkans, hosted by Nafisa Latic, is TRT World’s programme that focuses specifically on the issues and fault lines shaping Southeast Europe today.

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