(BRUSSELS) - EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn urged Macedonia Monday to deal with concerns over violence-scarred weekend elections and investigate all incidents raised by international monitors.

"It is essential that the authorities address these findings and the recommendations which shall follow," said Rehn, who is a key player in deciding whether and when Macedonia can start long-awaited European Union membership talks.

"I expect the authorities to duly investigate all reported incidents and bring the perpetrators to justice," he said in a statement.

His remarks came after foreign observers announced that Sunday's parliamentary polls had failed to meet international standards as they were marred by violence involving the two main Albanian parties -- the Democratic Union for Integration (DUI) and the Democratic Party of Albanians (DPA).

"Key international standards were not met," the observers said in a statement issued by the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), the continent's elections watchdog.

The elections -- the fifth in Macedonia since independence from former Yugoslavia in 1991 -- had been seen as a test of the landlocked Balkan state's democratic credentials and its hopes of joining the EU and NATO.

But one person died in one of several gun battles in ethnic Albanian-populated areas where polling was also tainted by allegations of intimidation and ballot fraud.

Rehn welcomed Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski's commitment to hold a re-run in "all the polling stations where there was violence and disorder. It is imperative that these re-runs are held in line with international standards."

He underlined the EU's wish to see Macedonia join, but warned: "I underline that holding free and fair elections is an essential part of the political criteria of the EU accession process."

Macedonia has officially been a membership candidate since 2005, 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 start.

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