Skopje, 14 July 2022 (MIA) – If the revised French proposal gets support from MPs, the country’s EU negotiations will begin next week, with the Intergovernmental Conference, which will kick off the screening process, deputy PM for European Affairs, Bojan Marichikj, told Bloomberg Adria on Thursday.

“Screening is an initial and essential stage of any negotiations. What is important to us is that there won’t be any additional conditions from Bulgaria, except what we’ve already accepted, which is changing the Constitution to include the Bulgarians. When that happens, the negotiations automatically continue with the other chapters and areas. Therefore we are certain that we have a formula which guarantees the course of the negotiations,” said Marichikj.

He welcomed the address of the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, and said she sent a clear and unambiguous message confirming the beginning of our EU negotiations in the next few days, if the revised French Proposal is accepted.

“The European Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen, made clear that history is not part of the EU membership criteria and that no historical issue can ever be a part of the criteria, and she explicitly stated that the Macedonian language is guaranteed and the European Union respects the diversity and identity of each new member. So, in that sense, she confirmed what we’ve been saying for days and weeks, that the Macedonian language is secured and guaranteed and will be an official language of the European Union, once we become a member,” said the deputy PM.

He added that if we are forced to make any concessions concerning language and identity, at any stage of the EU negotiations, we can legitimately leave the negotiations, because that is not a part of the EU’s process.

“No one should be worried that some kind of assimilation is possible. Our identity is established, guaranteed, and we carry it within us every day, there is no process that can undo that,” emphasized Marichikj.

When asked about the protests outside Parliament, the deputy PM said the right to protest is democratic and guaranteed in a democratic country such as ours, but violence, calls for violence and hate speech are impermissible.

“Everyone has the right to protest and to express their discontent, but, taking into account all our emotions, since we all have emotions towards this situation, everyone should carefully read what is written in the text, to see that our identity is protected and no one can change it. There is no negotiation process, nor goal, that could change the fact we are Macedonians who speak Macedonian,” said Marichikj. ad/sk/