Presidential candidate Ivanov has told his supporters he wants to help overcome nationalistic divisions in Macedonia, which narrowly averted civil war in 2001, following a peace deal between ethnic-Albanian fighters and Macedonian security forces.
VOA: standard.2009.03.22
Macedonia is fragile but has made important strides since it avoided all-out war in 2001 between its Macedonian majority and Albanian minority, which makes up about one-quarter of the population.