site.btaNorth Macedonia PM Slams European Parliament Committee Vote as Major Disappointment

Prime Minister of North Macedonia Hristijan Mickoski described the previous day’s European Parliament Foreign Affairs Committee vote on the country’s progress report as a major disappointment, not a minor victory, during comments in Skopje on Wednesday.

“Yesterday we witnessed, in the capital of Europe, Brussels, attempts by certain MEPs to create a new nation and a new language, in the 21st century, in Europe. What they accuse Russia of doing to Ukraine, namely denying the identity and language of Ukrainians, was attempted yesterday by certain MEPs with the small nation of North Macedonia. Their aim is to create a modern nation of North Macedonia that uses the contemporary language of North Macedonia,” Mickoski said.

He expressed satisfaction that citizens witnessed firsthand that both identity and language are not fixed, contrary to claims made by some political figures from North Macedonia and abroad who have tried to persuade the public otherwise over the past three years.

“Everything we have said from the very beginning was confirmed within minutes yesterday. The problem is not the inclusion of Bulgarians in the constitution; the problem is something else—namely the identity of North Macedonia and the mother tongue of North Macedonia citizens. That is the essence of the issue,” Mickoski reiterated.

According to the Prime Minister of North Macedonia, what the State expects from Bulgaria is only respect for the facts and the Human Rights Protection Resolution it has signed.

“What does this mean? All judgments coming from Strasbourg concerning the protection of human rights, of the North Macedonia community in Bulgaria, the recognition of OMO Ilinden Pirin (...), permitting OMO Ilinden Pirin to function as a legal entity, and a North Macedonia representative in the Council of Ministers for minority rights. That is all. If other minorities in Bulgaria deserved a place there, then so does the minority which, according to the 1956 census, was the largest minority with 200,000 registered citizens in what was then Western Bulgaria,” Mickoski said.

He described as “statements for domestic consumption” the letter sent to the leaders of European institutions and EU member states regarding the draft report adopted by the European Parliament Foreign Affairs Committee on the progress of North Macedonia by President Rumen Radev, as well as GERB leader Boyko Borissov’s comment on the committee’s decision that amendments to the report on North Macedonia would be proposed by the European People’s Party at the parliamentary session.

Mickoski again said that North Macedonia would fight to block the adoption of the amendments.

“If the majority of MEPs agree, then I suppose this amendment (to insert "modern" before "North Macedonia nation and language") may pass as they predict. But the important thing is, as you saw, Europe has seen how hypocritical some politicians are. Europe saw how these politicians say one thing and then another about the same issue. I fear that some of these politicians will be equated with Russian policy and what Russian policy is doing in Ukraine, namely seeking to prevent the integration of this, I would say, small country within the EU,” Mickoski said.

According to him, if North Macedonia starts negotiations with the EU, within three to four years those negotiations will be completed, “but as North Macedonian citizens, with a North Macedonia identity and a North Macedonia language, not as changed contemporary North Macedonia citizens, with a modern North Macedonia identity and modern North Macedonia language.”