There will be no changes to the constitution of North Macedonia “in the form that is now being requested”, said the country's Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski in the podcast “Rishtazi“, BTA reported.
The goal of the country's government is to find a sustainable solution that will lead North Macedonia to its ultimate goal - EU membership, he added.
Mickoski said that “in this entire process, things must be considered from the perspective of principles, and the principles must apply to everyone”.
In response to a question related to the negotiating framework adopted by the government of North Macedonia, a condition for the start of negotiations in which the changes to the country's constitution are included, Mickoski said that he was aware of “what was agreed upon the previous government, but also in Bulgaria a previous government agreed on something called respect for human rights”.
„Now on the principle, „we are inside, you are outside and want to come in”, we are obliged to accept what has been agreed. On the other hand, what a Bulgarian government has accepted (and) which is called respect for human rights (...) there are a dozen decisions by the Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg for the Macedonian community in Bulgaria - to respect its human rights, to allow the registration of clubs and organizations, etc.. Something that should be respected, but is not respected. This is called harassment and has nothing to do with the Copenhagen criteria, nor with the values of the EU (...) This is a policy of double standards. "Excuse me, but I am not a fan of this type of policy," Mickoski said.
According to him, the goal of the North Macedonian government is not just to start negotiations for EU membership, but to be part of the EU.
“When we know and when we have a solution on the table that will lead us to EU membership, then we are ready to talk. We are not ready to talk about quick, temporary solutions that will start this process, because we deserved it (yet) 25 years ago (...) I am a witness when they told us to just change the name and immediately after that we become part of NATO. That we start negotiations and because “you are the best in the club, after 4-5 years you become a member of the EU”. Those 4-5 years passed 3 years ago, and we are still in the same place where we were before we changed the constitutional name (...) we also changed the flag, we changed the banknotes and the constitution - several times. And it was always the same rhetoric: “the window is open, now is the momentum, just do this and it's done”. As you can see, experience teaches us the hard way. I'm just trying, as the first person in the government, to see things a little more clearly”, said Mickoski, according to whom the government of North Macedonia will continue to be committed to the implementation of the Reform Plan and “to work to create a better society and better living conditions for all citizens”.
According to him, “there is a feeling of corruption” in the country and pointed to a study according to which 80 percent of citizens say that there is corruption in North Macedonia, but when asked whether they have been the subject of corruption or know someone who has been the subject of corruption at the municipal level, less than 5 percent of respondents answer positively, and at the central level the percentage is less than three.
Therefore, in cooperation between the Ministry of Interior and a “well-known international non-governmental organization”, a “Report Corruption” line will be opened, where citizens who have been asked for a bribe will be able to report it, said Mickoski.