Macedonians voted Sunday in early general elections that many hope will move the country closer to European Union membership and NATO entry, stalled by a name row with Greece.

Some 1.8 million people are eligible to vote in the more than 2,000 polling stations that were to remain open until 7:00 pm (1700 GMT).

Three hours after polls opened at 7:00 am, turnout was 14 percent, said Boris Kondarko, chairman of the state electoral commission, adding that there were "no reports of any irregularities."

The strongest parties in the race to fill the 123-seat parliament are the ruling rightist grouping of 24 parties led by the VMRO-DPMNE of incumbent Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski and the leftist-led SDSM of Branko Crvenkovski.

The latest surveys gave the VMRO-DPMNE the lead, but many believe it will fall short of winning a majority.

Gruevski has pledged to continue reforms necessary to prepare the landlocked Balkan state for EU and NATO membership.

The opposition has accused him of corruption, rigidly controlling the media, and inadequate investment in the country.

The snap elections were called in April when the SDSM walked out of parliament after the authorities froze the bank accounts of the pro-opposition A1 television station and three newspapers during a tax probe of their owner.

The opposition's walkout has further slowed Skopje's efforts to join the EU and NATO.

Although Skopje officially became a candidate for EU membership in 2005, hopes of joining the union have been blocked by a 19-year-old name dispute with Greece.

Greece has a northern province called Macedonia and says the use of the same name by its neighbour implies a claim on Greek territory.

Macedonia filed an application with the International Court of Justice in November 2008, claiming Greece was violating its rights by blocking its membership of NATO pending the resolution of the name dispute.

Hearings before the ICJ were held in March, and the judges are expected to present their ruling later this year.

Both the government and the opposition largely avoided the issue during the campaign, pledging only that any proposed name change would be tested in a referendum.

Student Tine Jakupovski said he was angered with the politicians' "empty words on Europe and integration, while everyone knows there will be no EU until the agreement with Greece is reached."

His friend Kosta Malinov said he was "more concerned that we've lost (Euro 2012 qualifier) football match against Ireland last night."

"Qualifying for Euro 2012 would have brought us more world attention than all politicians together," said this 19-year old.

Polls conducted prior to the election showed that 47 percent were either undecided or would abstain from vote.

Many are disappointed with the slow pace of economic reforms and disillusioned by continuous political bickering.

Anita Petrusevska, 33, unemployed engineer, said that "neither the government nor the opposition offers anything new, no one thinks about how to provide jobs for young people."

Macedonia has an average salary of about 350 euros (500 dollars) a month and almost one-third of the potential workforce is unemployed.

The country's ethnic Albanians, who make up one quarter of the population, will likely play a crucial role in determining the makeup of the next government.

They have also stressed that joining the 27-member EU bloc will help ensure there is no repeat of the inter-ethnic conflict that shook the country a decade ago.

The party that wins the most seats among the Albanian bloc often backs the leading Macedonian party, becoming a key partner in the governing coalition.

Voting will be monitored by some 3,500 local and 330 international observers. For the first time, some 7,000 Macedonians living abroad would have a chance to cast their ballot.

In a bid to avoid incidents during the vote, Macedonian Interior Ministry said some 6,500 policemen were deployed to secure peace during the election day.

Preliminary results are expected early Monday.