Macedonians voted for a new president on Sunday in a ballot they hope will show they deserve to join the European Union and Nato. Once the poorest Yugoslav republic, Macedonia declared independence in 1992 and avoided the bloodshed of the 1990s when Bosnians, Serbs and Croatians fought elsewhere.
The country narrowly avoided full-out war between ethnic Albanians and Macedonians in 2001, but violence led to one death and injuries in last years parliamentary election. "That sullied the democratic credentials of this country," said Jose Luis Herrero, head of the local branch of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe.
"To go forward with the European Union and Nato intentions, they need those democratic credentials. Thats why these elections are so key to the country."
Voting on Sunday was peaceful and no irregularities or incidents were reported. The State electoral commission said that almost all polling stations opened on time. "Until now there have been no reports of any incidents," said Zoran Tanevski, the commissions spokesman, adding that the turnout up to 10 am was 7.2 percent.
Some experts have voiced concern that the ballot might fail because of a low turnout. More than 40 percent of the 1.8 million eligible voters must cast a ballot for elections to be valid. The first-round turnout two weeks ago was 56.8 percent.
Macedonia applied for EU membership in 2005 but has not advanced since then, and Greece has blocked its Nato application in a 17-year-old dispute over Macedonias name. The second round of voting pits Gjorge Ivanov, 49, who has never run for office before, against veteran politician Ljubomir Frckovski of the main opposition SDSM party.
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