- Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski received support from the European right-wing parties in Brussels as regards Macedonia's date for starting accession talks.

Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski met with EU Special Envoy for Security and Foreign Policy Javier Solana in Brussels yesterday. Gruevski said after the meeting with Solana, “The obligations ensuing from the eight benchmarks will be our top priorities. We will try to complete them as soon as possible so that the country could move forward as soon as possible. We will do this, not just because of the European Union, but also for ourselves and for a better life of the citizens of Macedonia”.

 

Macedonian Parliament to hold constitutive meeting and verify new MP terms on Saturday.

Macedonia is prepared for an agreement with Greece and it is in the country's interest to continue the talks under the auspices of the UN. However, Macedonia will have to adapt its strategy to the new conditions, Macedonian President Branko Crvenkovski said in the interview for BIRN (Balkan Investigative Reporting Network), the media write.

Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski will negotiate with both Ahmeti and Thaci. Sources from the governing VMRO-DPMNE say that a coalition with BDI is possible provided that Ahmeti does not repeat his mistake of 2006 when during the negotiations he blackmailed the then ruling coalition.

At the Sunday early parliamentary election revote in the first, second and sixth electoral units, the coalition "For Better Macedonia" led by VMRO-DPMNE won 63, the coalition "Sun-Coalition for Europe" headed by SDSM 27, BDI 18, PDSH 11 and PEI one parliamentary seats.

•Rerun held in peaceful and calm atmosphere.

•12 people were arrested by police in relation to the election re-run incidents.

•SEC: Voter turnout 30,08% in election re-run by 13:00 pm

•The voter turnout in election re-run by 10:00 o’clock is 12,40 percent, State Election Commission (DIK) Vice President Subhi Jakupi informed at a press conference.

Voting did not start in three polling stations in Tetovo Golema Recica (1985, 1986 and 1987) because the electoral material was stolen, said at the Sunday' press conference Subhi Jakupi, SEC Vice President.

“Holding of fair and democratic elections remains the ninth benchmark that Macedonia has to fulfill to be given a date for start of the negotiations for membership,” EU Commissioner for Enlargement Olli Rehn said following the meeting with Macedonian Foreign Minister Antonio Milososki in Brussels yesterday.

Macedonian Foreign Minister Antonio Milososki stated that Macedonia expects to receive a date for start of the negotiations with the European Union, despite Greece’s threats that it would veto such decision and despite the violence at the elections.

The international community representatives in Macedonia want the Government to take preventive measures to ensure that the election violence is not repeated. The international monitors already stated that they are not satisfied with the response of the state institutions on 1 June. This message was conveyed to Macedonian Foreign Minister Antonio Milososki and Interior Minister Gordana Jankulovska by the ambassadors of the EU and NATO member countries at yesterday’s meeting in the Macedonian Foreign Ministry.

BDI welcomed, while PDSH criticized the State Election Commission’s (DIK) decision to cancel the voting in 193 polling places. Both parties believe that they will win the elections following the voting on 15 June, when the elections will be repeated in the first, second, and sixth constituencies. PDSH accused DIK of acting on the orders of Ali Ahmeti and of working against the interests of the Albanians.

The State Election Commission voided the vote in 68 polling stations in the first, second and sixth electoral units.

In the words of the Commission's spokesman, Zoran Tanevski, based on complaints from the Democratic Party of Albanians (PDSH), the Commission annulled the vote in 13 polling stations, or more specifically, in 2133 in Jegunovce, 821 and 829 in Zajas, 502 in Gostivar, 785, 790, 791, 792, 793 and 796 in Oslomej, 1101 in Kumanovo, 2473 in Cucer Sandevo and 2890 in Cair.

Macedonian Government Spokesman Ivica Bosevski said Thursday the Greek ban on the Macedonia President's plane was the most serious scandal at the hands of Greece thus far.

The Greek authorities do not allow the plane of the Government of the Republic of Macedonia, with which Macedonian President Branko Crvenkovski was supposed to travel to Greece next week, to land in Athens, state news agency MIA reports. Consequently, Macedonian President Branko Crvenkovski cancelled his participation in the UNESCO Summit of Presidents of Southeastern European Countries, which will be held in Athens on 13 June.

The Macedonian Foreign Ministry informed that a Greek military contingent, part of the KFOR forces in Kosovo, was prevented from entering Macedonia on Tuesday because it did not have complete documentation.

“A party of the ethnic Albanians will be part of the new government because this is an unwritten rule in our country,” Antonio Milososki said in the interview for the Macedonian and Albanian-language programs of BBC. Milososki explained that VMRO-DPMNE would form a coalition with an Albanian party, despite the fact that such thing is not needed considering the absolute majority that VMRO-DPMNE has in the Parliament, the media report. A1 TV reported on Tuesday that the same ministers from VMRO-DPMNE would remain on the key positions. A change is only expected in the Defense Ministry.

The State Election Commission decided late Tuesday evening to cancel the voting in 25 polling places in three constituencies. The voting was cancelled in 11 polling places in the second constituency and in eight polling places in the sixth constituency, and the voting will be repeated in these polling places. The voting was also cancelled in six polling places in the first constituency, but the State Election Commission will decide on 15 June whether the voting will be repeated in these polling places.

All representatives of the international community expressed deep concern over the election incidents in Macedonia, which resulted in one casualty. They are disappointed and they believe that such outcome of the elections would harm the country’s aspirations to become member of the European Union and NATO. The overall assessment of the ambassadors and monitoring missions is that these elections are worse than the parliamentary elections in year 2006.

Key international standards were not met in yesterday's elections, as organised attempts to violently disrupt the electoral process in parts of the ethnic Albanian areas made it impossible for voters in many places to freely express their will, said the international election observation mission for the parliamentary elections in the Republic of Macedonia in a statement released Monday.

The State Election Commission informed today that the voter turnout at the parliamentary elections on 1 June was 57.45 percent. After processing 98.49 percent of the votes, the State Election Commission reported that the coalition “For a better Macedonia” had won 479,219 votes, while “Sun – Coalition for Europe” won 231,978 ballots. Third, according to the number of votes won, is BDI with 109,940 votes, while PDSH secured 101,123 votes. The Party for European Future won 14,489 votes.

According to the first unofficial information from the headquarters of VMRO-DPMNE and the State Election Commission, the VMRO-DPMNE-led coalition “For Better Macedonia” won the first early general elections in the Republic of Macedonia.  

The Government harshly condemned all election incidents and stressed that at polling stations where irregularities were registered the vote would be repeated. Government spokesman Ivica Bocevski said that according to the State Election Commission, there were irregularities at only 1 percent of the polling stations in the Republic of Macedonia. He underlined that the ballots to arrive from the disputed polling stations would not be accepted.

BDI (Democratic Union for Integration) demands of the international community to exert pressure on the Government to declare the election null and void in several municipalities where serious irregularities were registered. Izet Mexhiti, chief of BDI election headquarters, said voting in Bogovinje, Tearce, Tetovo, Jegunovce, Zelino, Saraj, etc. should be declared null and void.

The State Election Commission (SEC) said that by 17.00 hrs 45.90 percent of the electorate in all electoral units went to the polls. In 2006 by 17.00 hrs the turnout was slightly smaller, 42.6 percent. SEC President Jovan Josifovski said at a press conference the situation in the crisis polling station was calming down and that currently only 2 polling stations were closed.

Senior officials of the Albanian political parties convinced locals to remove the block from the entry to the village of Aracinovo in which a major shootout occurred earlier today. Relatives, fellow villagers and fellow party members of the persons that got injured and killed during the incident have returned to their homes and the situation in the village has been restored to normalcy to some extent, A1 TV reports.

Regardless of the incidents that occurred in the morning, the Government of the Republic of Macedonia and the Ministry of the Interior confirmed they had capacity to keep the process under control and guarantee peace and security, said Menduh Thaci, leader of the Democratic Party of Albanians (PDSH), after casting his ballot at a polling station in Tetovo.

Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski said that this day is important for the state, stressing that he would be happiest if democracy prevails. “I am glad that the voting in the majority of the polling places in the state is normal, fair, and democratic. I regret that small incidents were registered in some places, that is, in northwestern Macedonia,” Prime Minister Gruevski said after casting his vote in the Kisela Voda Municipality, NetPress reports.