The leaders of the three biggest parliamentary parties from the Government and opposition, who held a meeting on Tuesday, called on citizens to come out and vote in large number at the presidential and local elections on Sunday.

"I expect the elections to be at least as successful as the first round of the voting so that the state secures success through fair, democratic, and peaceful elections. The institutions will be fully prepared and no one will be allowed to cause problems that will cause harm to the state's future," Prime Minister and VMRO-DPMNE leader Nikola Gruevski said.

SDSM acting Chairman Zoran Zaev called on citizens to refrain from being drawn into incidents. The Republic of Macedonia must and should elect a president of the state, he stressed. BDI Chairman Ali Ahmeti also called on citizens to come out and vote in large number, but he refused to say whether his party will support the VMRO-DPMNE candidates. He repeated that the coalition between the two parties is functioning well, adding that this cooperation would be intensified at local level.

 

Macedonia, in cooperation with the international community and international organizations, will continue to be part of the efforts aimed at securing well-being for the people and Government of Afghanistan, Macedonian Foreign Minister Antonio Milososki stressed at the International Conference dedicated to the situation in Afghanistan, which is held in The Hague.

- Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski is going to meet the leaders of the four major political parties today at noon. The goal of the meeting is for all the leaders to pledge again they would make sure the second election round is not marred by incidents so that the country's Euro-Atlantic future is secured. Menduh Thaci, the leader of PDSH, is not going to attend the meeting. Zoran Zaev, SDSM's acting president, said he was not an optimist for the outcome of today's meeting, in view of last week's events that might seriously affect the election process.

The incident in Skopje on Saturday, when the supporters of the idea for the building of a church on the city square beat up the group of protestors who oppose this idea, provoked condemnation, disgust, and concern over the right to protest publicly. Both the ruling and opposition parties condemned this incident, assessing it as a political scenario organized by the other side. The president, prime minister, police, and the student organizations also commented on the incident. The main criticism is directed at the police, who failed to prevent the violence against the protestors. The authorities stressed the family ties of some organizers of the protest with SDSM members.

Germany is committed to enlargement of NATO, where Macedonia also belongs, German Chancellor Angela Merkel stressed in the German Bundestag on Thursday. In the address given before the holding of the NATO Summit, which will be hosted by both France and Germany, Merkel stressed that she opposes the use of a veto, the Macedonian-language program of Deutsche Welle reported.
"I hope that Macedonia will be able to enter NATO in the near future and that this will not fail due to the problem with the name. I stress this because enlargement of NATO is important and should not be relegated to a position of secondary importance," Merkel emphasized.

SDSM started direct negotiations with Ljube Boskoski and Imer Selmani for support in the second round of the presidential election, while VMRO-DPMNE and BDI are close to reaching an agreement on cooperation in the second round of the presidential and local elections.
Sources from the President's Cabinet stated unofficially that Boskoski and President Branko Crvenkovski held a meeting on Wednesday. The meeting was held at the request of Boskoski, who wanted to inform Crvenkovski about his future plans and about his impressions from the election campaign and the elections. The sources from the President's Cabinet say that there was no talk about Boskoski calling on his voters to vote for SDSM presidential candidate Ljubomir Frckoski. Boskoski's Election Headquarters did not say anything about this meeting.
BDI confirmed that VMRO-DPMNE leader Nikola Gruevski and BDI Chairman Ali Ahmeti reached a preliminary agreement at their meeting on Tuesday evening on mutual support at the local elections.

The two chief favorites for the position president of the state, VMRO-DPMNE's Gjorgje Ivanov and SDSM's Ljubomir Frckoski, have already started a fierce campaign for the second round of the presidential election. Ruling party candidate Ivanov stressed in Tetovo that he is not afraid of confronting his opponent and associate Frckoski in a TV duel. He also rejected the fears regarding possible boycott of the second round of the elections and the possibility of not enough citizens coming out to vote, deeming this as unfounded.

- Foreign Minister Antonio Milososki said that Macedonia's strategic goal was joining NATO and that Macedonia's principles as regards its foreign policy were regional cooperation and good relations with all neighbors. At the Tuesday meeting of the initiative Adriatic-Baltic-Atlantic in Riga, Latvia, Milososki said Macedonia met all responsibilities as a candidate for NATO membership and he was confident that in a foreseeable future conditions would be created for Macedonia to join NATO in a dignified way.

The U.S. State Department congratulated Macedonia and the Macedonian citizens on the successful elections, and it called on the Government to maintain this atmosphere in the second round of the elections as well. The Czech Presidency of the EU also congratulated Macedonia on the successful and peaceful elections, noting that the domestic and foreign observers and organizations confirmed that the elections fulfilled most of the international standards. EU Commissioner for Enlargement Olli Rehn stressed that, following Sunday's successful elections, Macedonia realistically can expect to receive a recommendation for start of the negotiations for membership in the EU.

- OSCE and ODIHR assess that elections were held in accordance with international standards.
- Foreign Minister Milososki is paying an official visit to Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.

The Presidency of the Council of the EU welcomes that the local and presidential elections in the Republic of Macedonia were held in an orderly and peaceful atmosphere and without any significant incidents.
The Presidency notes that the assessments of the international as well as national observers and organisations confirm that the elections met most of international standards and enabled the free expression of the will of the citizens.

The State Election Commission (DIK) informed at its press conference on Monday that mayors of 32 municipalities had been elected in the first round of the local elections. In 45 municipalities, the mayors will be elected in the second round of the local elections, while the processing of the votes has still not been completed in eight municipalities.
DIK Chairman Aleksandar Novakovski informed that so far the votes have been counted in 495 polling places in Skopje, which is 92.35 percent of the electorate in Macedonia’s capital. A total of 226,466 inhabitants of Skopje or 50.25 percent of the voters exercised their right to vote at the local elections on Sunday. VMRO-DPMNE candidate for mayor of Skopje Koce Trajanovski, who won 98,146 votes, and NSDP and SDSM candidate Tito Petkovski, who won 57,568 votes, will run in the second round of the elections for mayor of Skopje. BDI candidate for mayor of Skopje Shefket Zekoli is third with 24,294 votes, while New Democracy candidate Argtim Nagavci is fourth with 13,058 votes.

Following the first round of the presidential and local elections, Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski said Macedonia showed the whole world it had strength and capacity, as well as political will, to conduct peaceful, fair and democratic elections. He was pleased to conclude that Macedonia went through one of its best-organized elections, in which there was no violence and people freely expressed their will. It was the Macedonian citizens and the future that won the elections, he said.

Ruling VMRO-DPMNE presidential candidate Gjorge Ivanov is in the lead, according to the official information from the State Election Commission. After having processed data from 16.20 percent of all polling stations, the Commission said Ivanov was far ahead of his rivals, independent candidate Ljube Boskoski and SDSM's representative Ljubomir Frckoski, between whom the difference in votes is minimal. Ivanov polled 19,266 votes, or 38.49 percent, Frckoski 9,211 votes, or 18.40 percent, and Boskoski 8,658 votes, or 17.30 percent.

The presidential and local elections in Macedonia are being carried out in a peaceful atmosphere. Turnout by 17.00 hrs was 48.73 percent, or 788,147 voters, and was higher compared to the general elections of last year, said Aleksandar Novakovski, president of the State Election Commission, at the press conference at 18.00 hrs.
Novakovski said the electoral commission from the municipality of Ilinden sent an announcement to the State Election Commission, contradicting the reports of certain media that police had to intervene at a local polling station.

The monitors of the civic association MOST registered minor irregularities at polling places in Prilep, Struga, Lipkovo, and Skopje. At one polling place in Prilep, the members of the municipal election commission read the voters’ names aloud. Lobbying has been registered in two polling places in the village of Labuniste, Struga region, while in a third polling place in this same village, voters vote without presenting any ID documents. At one polling place in the Municipality of Aerodrom, Skopje, voters are given written instructions on how and for whom they should vote. Voting was discontinued in one polling place in the Municipality of Lipkovo, Kumanovo region, because the voting material was inappropriate.

The voter turnout by 13:00 o’clock for the presidential election is 26.24 percent, while the voter turnout for the local elections is 26.23 percent, State Election Commission (DIK) Chairman Aleksandar Novakovski informed at the second press conference. The voter turnout for the local elections in Skopje by 13:00 o’clock was 24.06 percent.
DIK’s overall assessment is that the voting so far is proceeding without problems. Novakovski stressed that DIK had not received any official complaints from the municipal election commissions as regards possible irregularities, adding that they are checking all unofficial reports concerning possible irregularities.

The voter turnout by 10:00 o’clock for the presidential election is 7.97 percent, while the voter turnout for the local elections is 7.96 percent, State Election Commission (DIK) Chairman Aleksandar Novakovski informed at today’s first press conference. The voter turnout for the local elections in Skopje by 10:00 o’clock was 7.81 percent.
DIK Chairman Novakovski informed that 103 polling places in 30 municipalities were not opened by 09:30 due to bad weather conditions and impassable roads. This is approximately 1 percent of the total electorate. Novakovski informed that DIK would decide when the voting in these polling places will be repeated.

A total of 93 polling places in 23 municipalities have still not been opened in Mace-donia due to inaccessibility of the roads. State Election Commission Spokesman Zoran Ta-nevski informed that no other problems have been registered so far. He stressed that, ac-cording to the law, all polling places must open by 10:00 o’clock.

The Interior Ministry will secure all polling places on Sunday with static and mobile police teams. There will be increased presence of the police at all polling places where election incidents were registered in the past, as well as at polling places considered risky. The members of the special police unit will also be in a state of alert. Citizens will also be able to contact the police via the hot line 192.

The State Election Commission acquired the confidential material for the presidential and local elections, which was prepared by Bitola printing house Kiro Dandaro, on Wednesday morning.

“All deadlines for holding of the elections have been met,” State Election Commission Spokesman Zoran Tanevski stated.

- Foreign Minister Antonio Milososki sent a letter to his Greek counterpart Dora Bakoyannis, in which he appeals for overcoming the standoff in the relations between the two countries and building good neighbor and partner relations. Milososki also proposes that the two countries reinstate the practice of holding consultations on diverse levels and signing bilateral deals in all areas of shared interest.

A Macedonian assembly delegation, headed by Assembly Chairman Trajko Veljanoski, is on an official visit to Serbia. Veljanoski met with Serbian Prime Minister Mirko Cvetkovic and Serbian Assembly Chairwoman Slavica Djukic-Dejanovic on Tuesday. Veljanoski and Cvetkovic assessed this visit as a significant step toward renewal of the spirit of good neighborly and friendly relations between the two countries.

This is the first official visit of a Macedonian state delegation to Serbia following Macedonia’s recognition of Kosovo in October last year.

- The Ministry of Foreign Affairs filed a note of protest to German Ambassador to Macedonia Ulrike Knotz because of her statement made before students at the Faculty of Pedagogy that in 2020 Macedonia would be an EU member state with a new name - Northern Macedonia, and that the political party, New Macedonian Party, made of both Macedonians and Albanians would be in office. She made this statement during a simulation game "We Are Creating a New Europe".

- According to the ODIHR mission, there is an energetic political campaign going on, with numerous rallies dominated by local issues. According to its report, many accusations of pressure or intimidation of citizens arrived at the mission. Upon investigating them, the mission concluded some of them were true. ODIHR believes the preparations for the elections are good in general, although the State Election Commission does not have enough qualified professionals. The media cover most of the election campaign and debates of the seven presidential candidates have taken place on two TV channels by now. MRTV has allowed free advertising space for the candidates for president and mayors.

The Report adopted by the European Parliament in Strasbourg is diplomatic victory for the Republic of Macedonia, Deputy Prime Minister in charge of EU integration Ivica Bocevski said on Thursday.

“With this debate, the Republic of Macedonia scored a small diplomatic victory, considering that the final text of the resolution states clearly that the bilateral issues in the Balkans should not impede the countries’ accession to the EU. This way, the amendment, which was the braking point at the debate in the European Parliament, was adopted in full at the end,” Bocevski said.

“Macedonia is assuming steps to fulfill the criteria for membership in the European Unions. Progress has been made as regards implementation of the Stabilization and Association Agreement and the Framework Agreement, as well as in the fulfillment of the benchmarks set by the European Commission. We regret that, three years after being assigned the status candidate country, Macedonia has still not started the negotiations for membership in the EU. This is discouraging for the state and citizens, and it increases the risk of destabilization of the region. To put an end to such situation, the EU Council should set a date for start of the negotiations by the end of this year,” states the Report on Macedonia’s progress in year 2008, which was adopted by the European Parliament today.

The European Parliament started on Wednesday the debate on the report on Macedonia, prepared by rapporteur Erik Meijer, who believes that Macedonia should be given a date for start of the negotiations for membership in the European Union as soon as possible. EU Commissioner for Enlargement Olli Rehn stated at the session that the EU would propose liberalization of the visa regime this year, A1 reports. The EU parliamentarians also expressed hope that the Greek Government would no longer exercise its right to a veto against Macedonia.

The European Parliament is expected to adopt a decision on this report today.

The Czech chairman of the EU, Mirek Topolanek, praised Macedonia for having met all criteria for visa liberalization. "We expect and we are going to encourage the Swedish presidency that the cancellation of the visa regime comes into force on 1 January next year," Topolanek said In Skopje Tuesday. In his view, only a political reason can stop Macedonia from not being granted a visa free regime with the member countries of the Schengen zone.

Greece is dissatisfied with the announcements that the European Parliament will confirm the report on Macedonia, which recommends that the EU start negotiations for membership of Macedonia this year, regardless of whether the name issue is resolved. The report recommends accession of Macedonia to NATO and the EU, and it calls on Greece not to exercise its right to a veto, emphasizing that Macedonia’s accession to these two international alliances will strengthen the stability of the Balkans.