Brussels  - NATO condemns the recent outbreak of political violence in Macedonia, a spokesman for the alliance said in Brussels on Wednesday.

The 26-member alliance "is concerned by and condemns" attacks on political activists and organizations in the country, especially the north-west, since the opening of election campaigning, NATO spokesman James Appathurai told journalists.

"NATO allies expect free, fair and violence-free elections and hope that steps will be taken by all parties to stop the violence that we have seen during this election period," he said.

Macedonia is a candidate for NATO membership and had hoped to be invited to join the alliance at its most recent summit in Bucharest on April 2-4.

Greece vetoed that aspiration, saying that Macedonia, which is officially known as the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia or FYROM, must first solve a long-running dispute with Athens over the issue of its name.

However, at the summit NATO leaders also said that they would invite Macedonia into the alliance as soon as the name issue was solved.

It is not the right time to talk about whether the latest outbreak of political violence could have "consequences" for Macedonia's NATO bid, but NATO does "hold its aspirants to the highest democratic standards," including the holding of safe elections, Appathurai pointed out. (dpa)