EU envoy Erwan Fouere praised the vote. "The elections took place in a calm atmosphere, and we commend the members of the electoral boards and citizens of this country who, despite the harsh weather, came out to vote," he said.
Fouere added that an assessment report would be issued today by the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), which monitored the polls.
There were seven candidates seeking the presidency. Gjorge Ivanov, a politics professor from Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski's centre-right VMRO-DPMNE party, had been leading in opinion polls. Local elections for mayors and city councils were also held.
If provisional results are confirmed, Ivanov will compete against socialist candidate Ljubomir Frckovski in the run-off on 5 April.
The international community had warned that if Macedonia's elections were not fair and peaceful, then the country risked losing the chance to begin membership talks with the European Union and NATO.
The West feared the vote could produce scenes reminiscent of last year's parliamentary elections, which descended into chaos and violence. One person was killed and nine were wounded.
Despite progress on ethnic relations, the country is still largely poor, unstable and economically hampered by a 17-year dispute with Greece. Greece objects to the name Macedonia because it is also the name of its northernmost province, and it vetoed Macedonia's entry into NATO in 2008.
Heavy snowfall prevented 103 polling stations from opening. Aleksandar Novakovski, president of the state election commission, said voting would be rescheduled in the affected areas.
(EurActiv with Reuters.)
