Skopje, 14 July 2022 (MIA) – The European proposal for the lifting of the veto on our EU integration process and the beginning of negotiations properly reflects our defined positions, said PM Dimitar Kovachevski, addressing Parliament Thursday.

“First of all, it clearly defines the Macedonian language as a unique, acknowledged and accepted language of the European Union. Which was our demand. For our national DNA, the Macedonian language, to be an official language. With the European proposal, the entire negotiation process, all millions of pages in the years that follow, including the Act of Accession, will be written in Macedonian. The Macedonian language will officially be spoken in Brussels and in all other European capitals. This is a great achievement, and a very important success,” said the PM.

Kovachevski said that the bilateral issues are not a part of the Negotiating Framework and with the European proposal, the First Intergovernmental Conference will immediately take place.

“Finally, after 17 years of waiting, after many announcements and disappointments, we have received an official beginning of negotiations. This is, respected MPs, the only truth in this maelstrom of manipulations, speculations, fake news, intentional and unintentional harm, the creation of a crisis and the destabilization of the country. I, the Government, and the President of the country say yes to this proposal, which entirely takes into account our national interests and red lines,” said Kovachevski.

He said that the entire Framework is available for the entire public to see, so that everything can be open and nothing will be hidden or secret.

“I said yes, because I think that this, the only European proposal we have, is the best possible solution at the moment, and in the period that follows as well. A proposal which maintains the red lines and at the same time finally gives us a beginning of negotiations,” added the PM.

He underlined that the proposal will help achieve even greater strengthening of the country’s foundations, the Macedonian language, the unique and strong historical, cultural and national identity, and that is the reason why they sought and received the best possible solution.

“Today we are attending an exceptionally significant Parliamentary session. Even though the adjective ‘historic’ has been used extensively by our politicians, I, entirely objectively, will do it as well, and say – today we begin a historic session. A historic session, because today and in the next few days, we will make a decision about several fundamental things for the country. For a better future, and for a stable present, but also for the protection and the respect of the past,” said Kovachevski.

He emphasized that the reason for today’s debate is the European Commission’s Proposal, delivered at the end of the French Presidency, which defines the beginning of the country’s EU accession negotiations.

“I want to clearly, and explicitly emphasize a few facts. Firstly, it is true that before the EU Summit in Brussels we received a set of ideas, and not an official, formal proposal. For me, for the Government and the coalition partners, for the President of the country and, I am convinced, for all the citizens, that concept was not acceptable. Because of this in front of all 27 leaders of the EU member states and in front of the entire European public, I clearly and explicitly said no. I said no, because that set of ideas was not in accordance with our consensually defined national positions which were affirmed here, in Parliament, with the Red Lines Resolution. I said no, because that set of ideas did not guarantee the status of the Macedonian language in the negotiations. I said no, because that set of ideas did not define a clear beginning of negotiations and led to a change in the Constitution and the solving of the bilateral issues with our eastern neighbour as preconditions. I explicitly said no, because it wasn’t good for the country. And we showed how the national interests should be protected,” said Kovachevski.

The PM said that they didn’t stop there, the country didn’t give up and the Government did not choose to feign false patriotism.

“On the contrary, we continued to seek a solution which would satisfy the national interests, but also the interests of the Macedonian people. In accordance with the red lines, but also in accordance with the obligation to begin negotiations. We do not accept nor lead a policy of ‘either/or’. We lead a policy for the beginning of EU negotiations and for the safeguarding of our dignity, identity, language and history,” said Kovachevski.

He said that as a result of that, and the support of numerous European friends, the country managed to get a single, formal, rounded, common proposal by the European Union.

“We have had to make many difficult, yet necessary decisions in the past. When we adopted the Ohrid Framework Agreement and when the Prespa Agreement was made. But the country persisted and it did not collapse. The country was not split, on the contrary it became a NATO member and now, during a war and a total crisis, we have personal and collective security. No one has managed to assimilate the Macedonian or any other peoples in the country, even in more difficult times than the present. Throughout the centuries many sides have attempted it. They didn’t succeed then, they aren’t succeeding now, they will not succeed tomorrow. Because the best defence of the identity is the country’s progress, moving forward and the long-awaited Europeanization of the country,” added the PM.

The PM said that the Government will not allow, as was the case during the regime, for the country to become an isolated, closed and criminal enclave, in which the political elite mercilessly steals while the citizens seek foreign passports and work abroad.

“This is the last struggle between destruction and pessimism on one side, and openness and optimism on the other. The country is being built every day, the identity and its uniqueness are respected forever, but are defended every single day. First of all at home, but also abroad. This is best achieved when you are a part of the progress, of development, of the modern world. We will not allow, as in the past, for the country and the citizens to live in eternal uncertainty, turmoil and dilemmas about what happens next. We will not allow for the country to remain at the tail end of the Balkans, when everyone else is moving forwards, despite their various issues,” said Kovachevski.

He said that the Government will firmly stand in protection of the Macedonian language, the unique historical and cultural identity of the Macedonian people through its equality with the European peoples and the building of the country, like the other European countries, upon the values of the respect the rule of law, equality, equity and a developed economy and standard of living.

“And we are doing that, and we will be doing that, with the help of this proposal and our EU accession. By accepting the European proposal, the Negotiating Framework and Parliament’s Conclusions, we remain on the only path, for which no one has found an alternative for 30 years. We are starting to move quickly and change the country, through the process of negotiations,” said Kovachevski.

Kovachevski underlined that this process won’t end today or tomorrow, just as it didn’t begin today, but in 1991 with a plebiscite of all citizens.

“This is why, with firm conviction, clear conscience and a full heart, I recommend that we accept the proposal and move forward, with a secured past, with a certain and stable present and into a better future, at long last. I do this, not because I have to, not because it is easy, but because I firmly believe that it is right. It is worth fighting for. This is why I ask for your support and the support of the citizens. Because the country belongs to us all. And at the very end, let me quote: ‘Pirey is a type of grass, some call it ‘koshteva’. But regardless of how much you pull it, uproot it, pluck it, it will not die. It only needs a little touch of soil and it will shoot up again, it will revive, it will sprout. Nothing destroys that grass.’ – wrote Petre M. Andreevski. Explicitly, firmly, eternally. Long live the citizens, long live the Republic of North Macedonia,” said Kovachevski in his address.

During the PM’s address, VMRO-DPMNE MPs made noise in order to make it impossible to hear the speech. The speech was followed by applause from the ruling parties’ MPs, while the opposition chanted ‘traitor’.

At the beginning of the session, with 68 votes for, and 38 against, the Parliament adopted the agenda for the 81^st session, with the single item of the agenda being the Report over the content of the draft-negotiating framework for the accession negotiations of the Republic of North Macedonia with the European Union, proposed by the French Presidency on 30 June 2022. ad/sk/