Dimitar Kovacevski, leader of the Social Democratic Union (SDSM), which has been in power in Northern Macedonia since 2017, appealed to his voters to keep the country on course for the European Union, at the last rally before the parliamentary elections and the second round of the presidential election. These elections take place on Wednesday, May 8, in this Balkan country, which is a member of NATO and has ambitions to join the European bloc. However, the party was affected by a low score for its candidate, the outgoing head of state Stevo Pendarovski, in the first round of the presidential election on 24 April. He obtained just under 20% of the votes, compared with 40% for Gordana Siljanovska-Davkova, the VMRO-DPMNE (nationalist right) candidate, whom he will face in the second round. IMAGES AND SOUNDBITES