North Macedonia's first ethnic Albanian prime minister takes oath

By Talha Ozturk

BELGRADE, Serbia (AA) - North Macedonia's first ethnic Albanian Prime Minister Talat Xhaferi took the oath of office to lead a caretaker government.

Talat Xhaferi was elected prime minister by the country’s parliament on Sunday.

The caretaker government's main task will be to hold general elections on May 8.

“The constitution and laws will be the basis for supporting every decision and action we take as the government,'' Xhaferi said in a news conference in the capital Skopje.

Xhaferi served as the parliament’s speaker before he was nominated by the ruling government coalition to become prime minister.

After the meeting between the ruling and opposition parties in December 2023, an agreement was reached that the first round of the presidential election would be held on April 24, the second round would be held on May 8, and the general elections would be held on the same day.