site.btaNorth Macedonia’s Deputy Prime Minister Nikoloski Calls for Powerful EU States to Put Pressure on Sofia to Unblock Euro-Integration

North Macedonia’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Transport Aleksandar Nikoloski said  “there is nothing new” in relation to the constitutional amendments. In an interview with TV Kanal 5, he was asked to comment on the statement of US Ambassador to Skopje Angela Aggeler who said she is confident that the government is working on the issue of constitutional changes.

According to Nikoloski, VMRO-DPMNE has clearly stated its position that it does not accept constitutional amendments “under Bulgarian dictate.”

According to him, a way out of this situation is “the new wave of optimism regarding enlargement that prevails in the EU due to the situation with Ukraine.”

When asked about the message from German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul, who after his visit to Skopje, where there were no public statements, wrote on Instagram that progress in relations with Bulgaria is particularly important for the further success of North Macedonia’s accession process, Nikoloski said that the previous government in Skopje maintained relations with Sofia, but nothing was achieved.

According to Nikoloski, the protests in Sofia show that the situation there is unstable, and during elections “the Macedonian question is very attractive for certain political elites.” The Minister repeated that in order to unblock North Macedonia’s European integration process, pressure from “several serious EU member states” on Sofia is required.

“I have no doubt that European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen; European Commissioner Marta Kos, European Council President Antonio Costa want North Macedonia to start EU negotiations tomorrow. They want this and are working for it to happen, but the question is whether those who truly have the power, and in politics, power plays a major role, are putting pressure on Bulgaria or not,” Nikoloski said.

“We have also said what our expectations are, whether they are related to the historical and political continuity of our people, whether they are related to the uniqueness of the Macedonian language, whether they are related to attempts to turn history into the main instrument for blocking negotiations, we have made our positions clear. We clearly said that Bulgaria does not implement the decisions of the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, and that we insist that it implements them. We clearly said that we insist it recognizes a Macedonian minority, which should be part of the Council for National Minorities in Bulgaria. Our positions are clear. We have not said or done anything different from what we said when we were in opposition,” Nikoloski said.