SKOPJE - North Macedonia's nationalist opposition began the search for a coalition partner on Thursday after voters frustrated by a lack of progress towards membership of the European Union ended seven years of rule by the Social Democrats.

The VMRO-DPMNE party won more than 42% of votes with nearly all ballots counted from Wednesday's parliamentary election, giving them 58 seats in the 120-seat parliament, versus 15% for the Social Democrats (SDSM).