Prime Minister of North Macedonia Hristijan Mickoski criticized Bulgaria for the second day in a row, BGNES reports.
He questioned the Negotiating Framework with the European Union and hinted that the Bulgarian MEPs behave like people from the Middle Ages. Mickoski was categorical that he would not give in even a millimeter from the demands of his government.
He noted that the condition for changing the Constitution was accepted by the previous government with the "French proposal" and this is a fact, but the current government is left with a strategy on how to overcome this, "without allowing new demands".
"I don't know if you know, but in Bulgaria there is a Committee that includes representatives of the Roma, Turkish and Armenian minorities. Don't we, the Macedonians, who have 14 decisions in the Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, deserve a place in this committee, and they deserve a place in our preamble? Until I see a Macedonian there who is part of this committee, and we all have to work for this, I will not move a millimeter while I am the Prime Minister of this government," said Mickoski in response to a question from MP Oliver Spasovski from the Social Democratic Union (SDSM) regarding the country's European integration and the condition for constitutional changes with the inclusion of Bulgarians in the Constitution.
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In addition, he announced that Foreign Minister Timcho Mucunski will hold a bilateral meeting with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Mucunski is in the United States to celebrate the anniversary of the Dayton Agreement.
Mickoski called on the opposition to lobby together with the ruling majority before the MEPs to vote on the country report, which mentions Macedonian identity and language.
"As a government, when you have this in front of you, you sit down and make a strategy and say whether we are in this game to find ourselves at the starting line, or to finish the race. If you look at it from a state perspective and more broadly, then you will say what the citizens and the state gain. Taking into account that the Minister of Foreign Affairs of our eastern neighbor said that this is only the beginning, not the end of the demands, we will see what happens next. When you have this fact, then it is logical to create a strategy for the future, and as a government we are creating a strategy for the future," said Mickoski.
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According to him, the first test is for the EU member states to adopt a document on minority rights, prepared by the RSM Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, and to see how Bulgaria will react.
"But before that, there is another introduction, namely the report of the rapporteur (Thomas Weitz - EP) on the situation here in Macedonia, which will be presented to the European parliamentarians on Wednesday, where they will talk about the special centuries-old Macedonian identity and the special Macedonian language, which are related to the nation, not to the territory of the state, and this is very important, because there are Macedonians everywhere in the world. "We will see how the parliamentarians (in the EP) coming from Bulgaria will behave," commented the Macedonian Prime Minister.
He pointed out that from what the RSM has as information and the amendments submitted, he is not optimistic about their pro-European behavior, which rather resembles behavior from the Middle Ages.
"This report states that we have a unique Macedonian identity, different from theirs - not after 1945, but centuries before that - and the Macedonian language. There (in the EP) they vote by majority, not unanimously, and that is why I ask the opposition, which is part of certain political families that have MEPs, to lobby for its adoption," insisted Mickoski.
He was categorical that in this way, for the first time in history, the European Parliament will include in a report a separate centuries-old Macedonian identity, related to the nation and the Macedonian language, the vote on which should be held in July.