site.btaSkopje Government Ready to Give Opposition Opportunity to Formulate Anticipated Constitutional Changes

The government of the Republic of North Macedonia is ready to give the opposition the opportunity to formulate changes in the Constitution "in the way they think will be in line with the negotiating framework", to make sure that there is nothing secret or coercive in the process, Deputy Prime Minister for European Affairs Bojan Marichic said in an interview on TV Telma. He said the government will soon announce the names of the experts it will propose to the working group for the constitutional changes.

Letters will also be sent to all political parties to nominate experts they trust to be part of the group on constitutional changes.

The Republic of North Macedonia is expected to change its Constitution to include in it Bulgarians so as to guarantee their rights. It is among the things that Bulgaria hopes to see before the start of EU accession talks with Skopje. 

In Marichic' words, the so-called "French proposal" is not ideal and the country has made many concessions, but at the same time for the first time in 17 years the Republic of North Macedonia has a real chance to move forward and complete the negotiations with the EU.

"We have asked the EU representatives to tell the public and the MEPs what they are telling us as a government and in Brussels. And that is that there is no possibility of renegotiating the negotiating framework, that postponing the constitutional changes is a waste of time and opportunities, and such expectations are an illusion," Marichic stressed.

In his words, if this year Skopje "misses the chance for the EU" and fails to continue with Albania and Serbia, which are negotiating EU entry, it will enter the group of countries for which the real start of negotiations is still coming up, such as Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo.  

"I expect that this year many representatives from the EU, from member states and beyond, will come and talk to our politicians, MPs, party leaders and convey the message that if we miss this year, Bulgaria will not miss the chance to underline that we have not been willing and able to fulfil our obligations." said Marichic.

He stressed that the opposition is not only unwilling to get involved in the preparation of constitutional changes concerning the inclusion of "several communities, including Bulgarians, Croats and Montenegrins", but also refuses to get involved in the preparation of reforms in other areas.