VMRO-DPMNE leader Hristijan Mickoski said that the reasons for the rejection of the changes in the Constitution in their current form are multilayered, and above all, he said, “tied to the non-existence of any guarantees that this will be the last concession Macedonia will have to make on its path to the EU, due to the lack of mechanisms protecting identity issues, as well as other additional topics that could be opened by accepting the amendments, especially concerning the active work of the Inter-Community Relations Committee.”

Skopje, 20 July 2023 (MIA) – VMRO-DPMNE leader Hristijan Mickoski said that the reasons for the rejection of the changes in the Constitution in their current form are multilayered, and above all, he said, “tied to the non-existence of any guarantees that this will be the last concession Macedonia will have to make on its path to the EU, due to the lack of mechanisms protecting identity issues, as well as other additional topics that could be opened by accepting the amendments, especially concerning the active work of the Inter-Community Relations Committee.”

“It seems like that if this barrier is broken down as well, there will be nothing to stop our eastern neighbor tomorrow, on the basis of imaginary figures, to ask for employment quotas for Bulgarians, appropriate and fair representation and a series of other demands that will be a product of politics, and not of real needs,” Mickoski told Deutsche Welle in Macedonian.

The opposition leader assessed that with the current Government, the dissolution of the political and national base of the Macedonians is beginning internally.

“The key mistake of this Government is that it undertook obligations that it cannot realize, i.e., they signed documents without a consensus with the opposition, and it is completely natural and expected for that process to lead us to a dead end. And I am not saying this out of egotistical reasons, because they didn’t consult us, but because of meaningful and practical reasons: because consulting VMRO-DPMNE could have only resulted in a better and fair solution for Macedonia. Bulgaria can’t launch a process of constitutional amendments in Macedonia, while the Macedonian Government doesn’t ask Bulgaria to realize at least three of the total 14 judgements of the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg for the Macedonians living there. We can’t have Macedonia changing its Constitution, without any concrete aid for Macedonia or guarantees for our identity features,” said the VMRO-DPMNE leader.

Mickoski said that all of their intentions for a fair solution have been taken down by the other side. He said that after the last leaders’ meeting, instead of the Government seriously reviewing the arguments and proposals of the opposition party, they decided to lie to the public.

“This is why elections are the only sustainable solution at this moment, as an exit from the political and economic crisis. Time shouldn’t be wasted, they should be organized as early as this autumn, and a new energy should be injected to move forward the processes that are important to the citizens,” Mickoski told DW.