Skopje, 26 December 2024 (MIA) — We need to implement the European reforms; Europe is our homeland, it is where we belong, said President Gordana Siljanovska Davkova in a Kanal 5 TV appearance on Thursday evening.

"One becomes European through the rule of law," she said, adding that "if constitutional changes were a guarantee for Europeanization, we would now be presiding over the EU." 

"Thirty-six amendments in 30 years, it is high time we weighed our moves," the President said. She also said it was "a little controversial" and "offensive for MPs to change the Constitution who knows how many times." 

"After all, they represent our citizens," she said. "If 80 percent of citizens have a problem with this way of opening negotiations, I have to pay attention to my legitimacy. My legitimacy does not arrive from the international community, but from the citizens." 

"No one can capture the state, appropriate the state, yet that's what happened," Siljanovska Davkova said.

She said the EU's attitude toward the country would change if it implemented the required reforms.

"The European Union has shown creativity when it needed to. It can reach for some creative solution now as well," she said.

Regarding the constitutional amendments, Siljanovska Davkova reiterated that their adoption required a two-thirds majority in Parliament.

"The previous government kept persuading us that it had the necessary majority, saying that even some progressive opposition MPs would stand behind their wise decisions," she said. 

"They accepted them without getting consent from the opposition. You can't do that, not to mention our citizens," Siljanovska Davkova said. mr/