Referendum over positie Albanezen in Macedonië ongeldig na lage opkomst (en)

A bid to end the autonomy granted to Macedonia's ethnic minority Albanians has failed after too few turned out to vote in a referendum.

At 26.5 percent, the turnout fell on Sunday well short of the 50 percent required to make the vote valid.

The outcome is a relief to Brussels as the referendum has been strongly linked to Macedonia's bid for eventual membership of the EU.

Nationalists in Macedonia had called for the poll, which both the government and foreign countries had urged Macedonians to ignore.

"The required turnout of 50 percent has not been met", conceded Stojan Andov, leader of the opposition Liberal Party, which was among the backers of the referendum.

The result was welcomed by Albanians opposed to the referendum.

"The people have demonstrated that they are willing to live in a multiethnic state, which promotes European values and concepts", said Emira Mehmeti, spokeswoman for the ethnic Albanian Democratic Union Party.

The laws which the referendum would have repealed involve redrawing local government boundaries to give Albanians greater control over areas where they are in the majority.