Eurasia Press & News
The United States hailed Macedonia for holding violence-free elections but urged the country to keep up the effort for the run-off vote on April 5, local media report.
Mary Ann Tyson, the Press Secretary at the State Department’s Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs, told Voice of America’s Macedonian news service that the people of Macedonia deserve credit for coming out to vote in large numbers despite heavy snowfall on Sunday.
“Demonstrating the capacity to conduct successful elections is crucial for Macedonia’s further progress in Euro-Atlantic integration,” Tyson said.
The State Department urged the government and other relevant authorities in Macedonia to sustain their efforts in the coming two weeks to ensure that voting can again take place under a safe, free and fair climate in the second round.
After last year’s June general polls were marred by violence and fraud amid a clash between the main ethnic Albanian political parties, the European Union set this election as the last chance for the country to redeem and amend its crippled democratic image.
With the voting assessed as positive by OSCE and local monitors, the ruling VMRO DPMNE party presidential candidate, Georgi Ivanov took firm lead over his main opponent Ljubomir Frckoski from the main opposition, the Social Democrats.
Local analysts say that the votes of the other five candidates that were eliminated in the first round will be crucial in the runoff.
At the same time, in the local election 32 out of 84 municipalities voted in mayors in the first round.
“The first round is of course only a semi-final of this election process. The final will take place in two weeks and I expect fair play,” the EU’s Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn told media on Monday.
If the country pulls off a smooth election it can hope for the swift removal of EU visas put up against travelling Macedonian citizens and a date for the start of its EU accession talks this autumn.
