Macedonians deserve dignified elections: president

Macedonian President Gjorge Ivanov said Friday that citizens of Macedonia deserve dignified elections.

"Until the end of the campaign, I expect everybody here to act in a dignified way in accordance with our constitution and our laws," Ivanov said.

He made the statements while visiting Macedonian army servicemen deployed at the Medzitlija border crossing in Bitola.

He called on institutions here not to tolerate anyone trying to obstruct the election process in any way.

On the other hand, he expressed confidence that Macedonia would overcome this difficult period in history and stressed the need for stability and prosperity, the president's press office said.

Ivanov further stated that Macedonia needed fair and democratic elections in order to make the European Union (EU) start applying a different approach toward it.

After eight consecutive progress reports issued by the European Commission, the executive arm of the EU, Macedonia has proved it meets the conditions to get a date for the opening of accession negotiations, Ivanov told media here. Endit