U.S. Mission to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Vienna September 14, 2000 STATEMENT ON THE FORMER YUGOSLAV REPUBLIC OF MACEDONIA DELIVERED BY CHARGE D'AFFAIRES JOSIAH ROSENBLATT TO THE PERMANENT COUNCIL, VIENNA Thank you, Madame Chairperson. The United States concurs with the Chair's September 11 statement welcoming the recent local elections in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. We share the view just expressed by our French colleague that voting in the September 10 local elections was calm and orderly in the majority of municipalities. We take note of the ODIHR Election Observation Mission's statement of preliminary findings, which noted some acts of violence, intimidation and irregularities in certain electoral districts of the western part of the country. It is our sincere hope that such incidents will be avoided during the second round of voting. We join ODIHR in calling on FYROM authorities to investigate and prosecute vigorously any breaches of law during the polling. We expect any official complaints made by political parties to be handled correctly and in accordance with the laws of the country, as in prior elections. We look forward to the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia government's official announcement of municipal election results, and to the eventual issuance of an OSCE/ODIHR report, which is final and comprehensive.
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