site.btaNorth Macedonia's PM Says There Will Be No Constitutional Changes "in Form Currently Demanded"

There will be no changes to North Macedonia’s Constitution "in the form currently demanded," said Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski on the Rishtazi podcast. The Government’s goal is to find a sustainable solution that will lead North Macedonia to its ultimate goal - EU membership, he added. Mickoski stated that “throughout this entire process, matters must be viewed from the perspective of principles, and those principles must apply to everyone.”

In response to a question regarding the negotiating framework adopted by North Macedonia's government - which stipulates that amendments to the country’s constitution that include the Bulgarian community are a prerequisite for the start of EU accession negotiations - Mickoski said that he is aware of “what the previous government agreed to, but in Bulgaria, too, the previous government agreed to something called respect for human rights.”

“Now, based on the principle that ‘we are inside, you are outside and want to come in,’ we are obligated to accept what has been agreed upon. On the other hand, what a Bulgarian government has accepted - which is called respect for human rights (...) - there are a dozen rulings by the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg regarding the Macedonian community in Bulgaria: to respect its human rights, to allow the registration of clubs and organizations, and so on. This is something that should be respected but is not. This is called harassment and has nothing to do with the Copenhagen Criteria or with EU values (...) This is a policy of double standards. I am sorry, but I am not a fan of this type of policy,” stated North Macedonia's Prime Minister.

In his words, the goal of North Macedonia's Government is not simply to begin negotiations for EU membership, but to become part of the EU.

He said that in the country “there is a perception of corruption” and cited a survey according to which 80% of citizens say that corruption exists in North Macedonia, but when asked whether they had been victims of corruption or knew someone who had been a victim of corruption at the municipal level, fewer than 5% of respondents answered in the affirmative, and at the central level, the percentage was under 3%. Therefore, a Report Corruption hotline will be launched in cooperation between the Ministry of the Interior and a “well-known international non-governmental organization where citizens who have been asked for a bribe will be able to report it, said Mickoski.