site.btaVLEN Coalition Extends Deadline for Including Bulgarians in North Macedonia Constitution

The ethnic Albanian coalition VLEN, a member of the VMRO-DPMNE government in North Macedonia, has extended the 6-month deadline to add Bulgarians to the North Macedonia Constitution, Skopje media said on Friday. The coalition initially set a 6-month deadline as a prerequisite for joining the government, but that deadline was pushed aside after the elections, even though the constitutional changes and ongoing negotiations with the EU were pre-election priorities. VLEN attributed this decision to political instability in Bulgaria, rather than pressure from government partner VMRO-DPMNE.