site.bta Half of North Macedonia’s Citizens Believe Religion Influences Political Processes, Survey Shows

One of the most common forms of intertwining politics and religion observed during local elections in the Republic of North Macedonia is candidates seeking blessings from religious figures, according to a public opinion survey titled “Religion in Political Campaigns.” The study was conducted by the Institute for Political Research–Skopje, the religija.mk website, and the Konrad Adenauer Foundation.

According to the survey, 68.3% of respondents oppose the use of religion and religious symbols in political campaigns. The research focuses on the local election campaign held on October 19 and November 2.

The survey is part of a project analyzing citizens’ perceptions of the role of religion in multi-religious societies.

Respondents’ perceptions of religion’s influence on political processes show that around 50% believe religion affects politics (16% “entirely,” 34% “somewhat”).

The study also found that 24.3% of respondents believe religious communities favored a specific political party during the local elections, while 33.9% did not notice such involvement. Asked which party was favored by a religious community, 27.4% answered VMRO-DPMNE, 26.3% said the Albanian party DUI, 21.2% pointed to the VLEN coalition of Albanian parties, which is now part of the government, while 1% said SDSM.

The survey was conducted after the local elections and included 1,128 respondents, maintaining proportional representation across key demographic categories, including gender, age, occupation, and education, based on the latest data from North Macedonia’s State Statistical Office.

Nearly one in three respondents said religion was used, or partially used, to attract votes during the campaign. However, 75% said religion did not influence their vote choice, while 16% said it did.

The survey found that, on a scale of 1 to 5, citizens perceived the highest use of religion in the campaigns of DUI (2.73), VLEN (2.65), and VMRO-DPMNE (2.34). The overall average rating for the use of religion and religious sentiment in the campaigns of independent candidates was 1.9.