EU verontrust over geweld in Macedonië (en)
The European Union has voiced deep concerns over the ethnic violence which marked election day in EU-hopeful Macedonia, leaving one person dead and eight wounded.
"The European Commission is very concerned about the use of violence during the election in the country," the EU's executive body said following Sunday's polls (1 June), widely seen as a test of Macedonia's democratic credentials.
A series of violent incidents occurred in the mainly ethnic Albanian-populated areas, mostly in Aracinovo - a village near the capital Skopje and a guerrilla stronghold during the armed conflict between Macedonian security forces and Albanian guerrillas in 2001.
The shootings claimed one life and saw several people injured with 21 arrests. Authorities were forced to suspend voting in 22 polling stations.
In response to the clashes, EU foreign police chief diplomat Javier Solana called for calm and demanded a re-run of the elections in the polling booths affected by the disorder.
The same message came from Erwan Fouere, head of the EU's office in Macedonia. "We are deeply concerned by the many...corroborated reports of not only acts of intimidation, but also blatant violence, shooting, injuries to innocent people," he told the AP.
Gruevski triumphant
Meanwhile, current prime minister Nikola Gruevski hailed the landslide victory of his centre-right VMRO-DPMNE party, with preliminary results suggesting it secured over 48 percent of the vote.
The score is likely to translate to more than 60 seats in the 120-strong parliament, giving the winning party enough power to stir the agenda.
"Macedonia has the power to go ahead. The country has the energy for progress to join NATO and EU," Mr Gruevski told his supporters in Skopje.
The Social Democrats, with over 23 percent of the vote, came second in the poll. The Albanian Democratic Union for Integration won over 11 percent, while the rival Democratic Party of Albanians gained some 10 percent.
EU bid
Expectations are high to get Macedonia's NATO and EU bid back on track, as well as to calm ethnic tension between the country's Slavic majority and Albanian minority, which makes up about a quarter of the country's 2.1 million people.
Macedonia is seeking a firm date for EU entry talks as well as an invitation to join NATO. In April 2008, NATO leaders agreed to invite Albania and Croatia to join the alliance, but Greece blocked Macedonia's invitation because of a dispute over the country's name.
Macedonia is also the name of a northern region of Greece. Athens insists that Skopje sticks to its current title - The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) - instead of calling itself by the shorter which implies a link to the Greek territory.