ETHNIC ALBANIANS CAST BALLOTS DURING RE-RUN OF THE MACEDONIAN PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS, 1999-12-05 (photo)

Ethnic Albanian men cast their ballots during the re-run of the second round of the Macedonian Presidential elections at a polling station in the village of Matejce, some 20kms west of Skopje December 5. The repeat election has exacerbated tensions between the Slav majority and the ethnic Albanian minority in the Balkan state because most of the 230 polling stations affected are in Albanian-dominated western Macedonia. The re-run also has the potential to overturn the victory of Boris Trajkovski from the ruling VMRO party, Macedonia's Deputy Foreign Minister and a former Methodist priest, over Tito Petkovski of the ex-communist Social Democrats. IM/