U.S. Urges Macedonia's President-Elect to Continue Progress

The United States congratulates President-elect Branko Crvenkovski of Macedonia and encourages him to "continue in the path of stability and progress set by Boris Trajkovski through abiding by commitments to strengthen interethnic relations," U.S. diplomat Douglas Davidson told the OSCE Permanent Council May 6.

Crvenkovski won a special election following Trajkovski's death in a plane crash.

"We encourage the Macedonian government, in cooperation with ODIHR, to review and, where appropriate, to strengthen Macedonian electoral laws, procedures and relevant institutions ahead of the Autumn local elections," Davidson said. He also noted the importance of completing implementation of the Framework Agreement.

As delivered by Deputy Representative Douglas Davidson to the Permanent Council May 6, 2004

The United States congratulates the winner of Macedonia's presidential elections, Branko Crvenkovski, and looks forward to working closely with him in his new capacity as Head of State.

We take note of the ODIHR [Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights] election monitoring mission's assessment that the elections were generally consistent with international standards, despite serious irregularities in certain parts of the country. Reports of voter intimidation, ballot box stuffing and other irregularities in predominantly ethnic Albanian areas are disappointing.

We understand that the Macedonian State Electoral Commission has considered appeals and complaints and has ruled that, even taking into account those appeals that were upheld, the overall result of the second round of elections would not have been affected.

We encourage the Macedonian government, in cooperation with ODIHR, to review and, where appropriate, to strengthen Macedonian electoral laws, procedures and relevant institutions ahead of the Autumn local elections.

Finally, Mr. Chairman, we look to President-elect Crvenkovski to continue in the path of stability and progress set by Boris Trajkovski through abiding by commitments to strengthen interethnic relations. We also encourage President-elect Crvenkovski to maintain as priorities the completion of Framework Agreement implementation and the carrying out of reforms necessary to further advance Macedonia's Euro-Atlantic integration.

(Distributed by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)

"We take note of the ODIHR [Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights] election monitoring mission's assessment that the elections were generally consistent with international standards, despite serious irregularities in certain parts of the country. Reports of voter intimidation, ballot box stuffing and other irregularities in predominantly ethnic Albanian areas are disappointing."

And from Reality Macedonia ( http://www.realitymacedonia.org.mk/web/news_page.asp?nid=3195 )

"In the course of the elections, to a much greater extend as compared to the first round of elections, the voting rights of certain categories of persons and individuals, were violated or threatened. In some voting polls (especially in rural areas and in smaller towns), the violations were of such scale that, according to the Helsinki Committee opinion, they do have an important impact on the election results.

In addition to the omissions registered in the first election round (in respect of which there were not even attempts to be eliminated, and some of which were even worsened, such as the non-designation of the voting polls), the Helsinki Committee turns the attention to the mass scale violations of the voting rights: by illegal stuffing of the ballot boxes (most often by the members of the Election Commission themselves); multiple and proxy voting; forcing the members of the Election Commissions to allow or facilitate the violation of the law; and exerting open pressure on citizens by representatives of political parties. The registered violations of the voting rights are multiplied to concerning dimensions in election polls where the majority of the population are persons belonging to the Albanian community. In some of the voting polls in the western parts of the country instead of the Macedonia state flag, the Albanian state flag was hoisted next to the ballot boxes."

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.