EU Worried About Macedonia Violence

Brussels_ The EU has expressed concern at the spate of election-related violent incidents in Macedonia.

The European Union’s Enlargement Commissioner, Olli Rehn underlined the need for the acts to be investigated, the perpetrators prosecuted, and called on all political leaders, activists and people in the country to ensure free and fair elections.

“This is only natural for a country that aspires for EU membership,” Rehn’s spokeswoman Krizstina Nagy emphasised.

“The organisation of free and fair elections is an essential criteria for EU membership and thus will be assessed by the Commission in the next EU report,” Nagy added.

On Monday, the leader of Macedonia’s main Albanian opposition party, the Democratic Union for Integration, DUI, said he escaped an apparent assassination bid. Macedonian police have arrested a man.

The start of election campaigning on Sunday for the country’s June 1 snap parliamentary poll was accompanied by a series of incidents involving the killing of a reported DUI member, a hail of bullets fired at DUI party headquarters and the torching of a night club. Read more: http://balkaninsight.com/en/main/news/10079/

“I make an appeal to everybody in the country to see that the electoral campaign develops in a proper manner,” the EU’s foreign policy chief, Javier Solana pleaded.

“The elections are to take place in a climate constructive and positive towards the future and not in a way towards the past,” he added.

Macedonia’s President also condemned the violence on Tuesday.

“Any kind of violence, especially the use of arms and putting at risk the security of human lives is absolutely inadmissible. The dramatic events from the past two days must end and be the last,” Branko Crvenkovski told media.