Macedonia assures EU of limited vote re-run
(BRUSSELS) - EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn has received assurances that the weekend election in Macedonia will be held again in some violence-hit districts, his spokeswoman said Monday.
In a telephone call, Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski "has given his commitment that the elections will be re-run in those polling stations where violence and disorder occurred," said spokeswoman, Krisztina Nagy.
"We call for a peaceful and orderly conduct of voting during the re-runs," she said.
Nagy declined to comment on whether the conduct of Sunday's election would hurt Macedonia's membership talks with the European Union, with the commission set to publish a report on Macedonia's EU-oriented reform progress in the autumn.
But she noted: "The organisation of free and fair elections is an essential element of the political criteria and as such it will be assessed by the commission" in its report.
Macedonia has officially been a candidate since 2005 for membership of Europe's rich club, but it has not been set any date for accession talks to begin.
The commission, the EU's executive arm, has the power to recommend to the 27 member nations whether the negotiations should begin.
Nagy also said that Rehn "is very concerned about the violence that occurred during the elections. He deeply regrets the loss of life and that people have been injured."
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