Skopje. Will they ever become a democracy?

[Angelo]

Macedonia Campaign ‘Full of Irregularities’

Opposition rally in Skopje22 May 2008 Skopje _ Macedonia’s main election monitor claims there have been a host of irregularities in campaigning for the June 1 election.

In their report on the campaign so far, MOST notes party violence, the use of firearms, pressure and threats towards voters, political misuse of children and abuse of local municipality assets for party purposes.

“That is why MOST appeals to parties to understand and take seriously the calls for fair elections. They should show their political will and put the future of Macedonian people in front of their own party interests,” the director of MOST, Darko Aleksov told media.

Aleksov called on the parties to honour the previously signed free elections code that among others was supported by MOST. He also urged institutions to be more active in finding and punishing the perpetrators of incidents.


The European Union reminded Skopje that free and fair elections are a must if the country is to get a date for the start of EU accession negotiations this autumn.

Macedonia is already an EU candidate country.

The citizens’ association, MOST is Macedonia’s largest election monitoring organisation.

It has followed several general elections in the past and for the June 1 snap polls the organisation will dispatch several thousand observers.

[Ellinas]

I don't think Skopia will ever becomea democracy because most possibly soon they will not even be a state. After the swiftly oncoming economical collapse of the USA, Skopia is one of the many states that will not be able to survive.

[Napalm]

Originally Posted by Ellinas
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I don't think Skopia will ever becomea democracy because most possibly soon they will not even be a state. After the swiftly oncoming economical collapse of the USA, Skopia is one of the many states that will not be able to survive.

That's a good point. Even before America fully collapses they'll start cutting off funding to all these useless states.

[Angelo]

Brussels - NATO condemns the recent outbreak of political violence in Macedonia, a spokesman for the alliance said in Brussels on Wednesday.

The 26-member alliance "is concerned by and condemns" attacks on political activists and organizations in the country, especially the north-west, since the opening of election campaigning, NATO spokesman James Appathurai told journalists.

"NATO allies expect free, fair and violence-free elections and hope that steps will be taken by all parties to stop the violence that we have seen during this election period," he said.

Macedonia is a candidate for NATO membership and had hoped to be invited to join the alliance at its most recent summit in Bucharest on April 2-4.

Greece vetoed that aspiration, saying that Macedonia, which is officially known as the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia or FYROM, must first solve a long-running dispute with Athens over the issue of its name.

However, at the summit NATO leaders also said that they would invite Macedonia into the alliance as soon as the name issue was solved.

It is not the right time to talk about whether the latest outbreak of political violence could have "consequences" for Macedonia's NATO bid, but NATO does "hold its aspirants to the highest democratic standards," including the holding of safe elections, Appathurai pointed out. (dpa)


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