„I regret that once again they missed the chance to be good neighbors“, said the Prime Minister of North Macedonia Hristijan Mickoski, claiming that Bulgaria disputes the Action Plan for Minorities in the country, “because it was prepared in Macedonian“, dariknews.bg reported, citing BGNES.
The Prime Minister said that what he had warned his partners in Brussels about had happened: „even if we make the best Action Plan for Minorities, it will be rejected by Bulgaria“.
„No member state has anything against it, not one minority in Macedonia has nothing against it, because there was a public debate. Well, the problem was that it was in Macedonian. Excuse me, but my mother tongue is Macedonian, the official language for international use is Macedonian, there is no other. If this bothers someone, I cannot help here and I regret that it is so“, said Mickoski.
The North Macedonian Prime Minister claims that everything was done as requested – the proposals of an expert from Italy were accepted when preparing the Plan and the request from Brussels “to be sent to Bulgaria a day earlier, to show goodwill“ was fulfilled.
“That's what we did – we sent it a day earlier. Well, now they are bothered that it is in Macedonian. But this is the official language according to the Constitution and I or the minister cannot violate the Constitution. If they think we will send it in another language – we do not have another language according to the Constitution. This is the Macedonian language. They once again show that there is no connection with either minorities or Bulgarians in the Constitution. Their demands have much deeper roots and the problems are much deeper, and once again show that their intentions are completely different“, said Mickoski.
He also said that the government in Skopje currently has no contacts with Bulgaria and added: “we are available at any time and anywhere, in any organization to go and talk, and to present our arguments“.
“We will accept everything, of course – without entering it into the Constitution. We will accept all the remarks, but I cannot give up my native Macedonian language“, emphasized Mickoski.
The Republic of Bulgaria notes with concern the latest theses of the authorities in Skopje, which sharply diverge from the essence of the European Consensus of 2022, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) reports on its website.
The question of what language the Plan on the Rights of Communities expected by the Republic of North Macedonia should be in is internal to the neighboring country and is not a topic of bilateral relations. The document will be implemented precisely by its institutions towards its own citizens and it is logical that it be in a language accessible to them. Skopje's choice to present the draft of this plan to its citizens in English is difficult to explain, especially if the plan is planned to be actually implemented.
The Community Rights Plan is a step intended to follow the inclusion of Bulgarians in the constitution, which is still pending and which will allow our neighbors to open accession negotiations, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs also stated.
They also added that they welcome the words of Prime Minister Hristiyan Mickoski that he "will accept all other comments" of the Bulgarian community in the Plan and count on him to keep this promise to them.
In 2022, the so-called French proposal was adopted, obliging Skopje to include Bulgarians in its constitution as a state-forming people, which has not yet been implemented.