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SKOPJE, Oct 13 (AFP) - An ethnic-Albanian candidate for the Macedonian presidency has inflamed the election campaign by calling for the independence of Kosovo.
Muharem Nedzipi, candidate of the Democratic Party for Albanians (DPA), said this week it was a matter of days before the Yugoslav province is an "independent state." He used the term "Republic of Kosovo."
Nedzipi, one of two Macedonian ethnic-Albanian candidates for the October 31 election, made the statement during a televised debate by the six presidential candidates.
Stojan Andov of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) condemned the stand which he said would antagonise the international community.
"Not only Macedonia, but both the Balkans and Europe, have no interest in acting against the principle of unchangeable borders and that is why we have to oppose ideas of recognizing (an independent) Kosovo," Andov told a rally in western Macedonian town of Tetovo.
He warned that if the borders change "it will be hell in Macedonia."
Nedzipi has repeatedly stressed the need to improve rights of ethnic Albanians in Macedonia, claiming they were not "a minority" but "a constituent people."
According to last official figures, issued in 1994, Albanians comprise 22.9 percent of Macedonia's population of two million.
Ethnic-Albanian political leaders say their community will "will certainly become the majority in Macedonia".
The election campaign started on September 30 and has been marked by accusations by the opposition Social-Democratic Alliance of Macedonia (SDSM), that nominated Tito Petkovski, against the ruling Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization - Democratic Party for Macedonian National Unity (VMRO-DPMNE).
The SDSM said the ruling party tried to cause a car accident to kill a local party leader in Delvevo.
Most recent polls show that the ruling party's Boris Trajkovski, the deputy foreign minister, and Petkovski, are still leading the fray.
However, Trajkovski, who at 43 is the youngest candidate, has been criticised over his lack of "political experience."
It seems certain that the president will not be elected in the first round. The second round is on November 14.
President Kiro Gligorov, whose second five-year mandate expires on November 19, is not running for a third term.