The parliament of North Macedonia elected Hristijan Mickoski as the country’s new prime minister late on June 23, after a two-day heated debate and a halt to the session due to a power outage caused by heavy rains.

77 MPs backed Mickoski’s government and 22 voted against. The European Front left the session before the vote, saying this government would not be legitimate as it does not represent ethnic minorities.

Following his victory in the May elections over the Social Democrats, Mickoski received the mandate to form the new government from President Gordana Siljanovska Davkova on June 6.

The Your Macedonia coalition led by VMRO-DPMNE will have 15 ministerial positions, including three vice prime ministers, as reported by bne IntelliNews earlier this week. The ethnic Albanian Vlen coalition will oversee five ministries and have one vice prime minister, while the ZNAM party, led by Maksim Dimitrievski, will have two ministerial portfolios.

The new government has a total of 20 ministries and the government has 24 members. Mickoski has five deputy prime ministers, one of whom will be first deputy prime minister.

Key appointments include Pance Toskovski for minister of internal affairs, Timco Mucunski for foreign affairs and foreign trade, and Gordana Dimitrieska Kocoska for finance.

Aleksandar Nikoloski is proposed as deputy prime minister and minister of transport, while Vlado Misajlovski will oversee the ministry of defence.

Other significant appointments include Zlatko Pirinski for minister of local self-government, Sanja Bozinovska for energy, mining and mineral resources, and Cvetan Tripunovski for agriculture, forestry and water management. VMRO-DPMNE’s coalition partners, the Socialist Party and the Democratic Party of the Serbs, will hold vice prime minister positions responsible for political systems and community relations, to be held by Ljupco Dimovski and Ivan Stoilkovic, respectively.

Other ministers include Stefan Andonovski for information society and digital transformation, Borko Ristovski for sports, Zoran Ljutkov for culture and tourism, and Vesna Janevska for education.

Mickoski has pledged to use the constitutional name of the country, North Macedonia, internationally, but he has said that domestically he will continue to refer to the country as Macedonia, as has been customary.

Greek officials have issued multiple warnings against the use of the old name "Macedonia" after Siljanovska Davkova omitted the word "North" from the country's official oath in parliament. 

Despite the controversy over the country’s name, changed to end a dispute with Greece that had blocked North Macedonia’s EU access progress, Mickoski said that securing EU membership would be the primary focus of the government.

Highlighting the priorities of his incoming government, Mickoski stressed a strong stance against crime and corruption as a top agenda item.

Mickoski announced plans for a substantial foreign investment in renewable energy within the first few days of his government's tenure, aimed at achieving energy independence for North Macedonia. The investment is valued at €400mn-€450mn.