Macedonia's Prime Minister, Nikola Gruevski, has declared victory for his ruling centre-right party in the country's parliamentary election. The leader of the opposition Social Democrats, Radmila Sekerinska, has conceded defeat.
But the election was marred by allegations of fraud and violence. One man was killed in a shooting in the ethnic Albanian part of the country, while eight others were wounded. The country is bidding to join the European Union and NATO, but experts say the election gun battles may complicate that task. Voting was suspended in 22 polling stations because of reports of intimidation and violence.