Skopje, 3 April 2024 (MIA) – We won’t secure membership in the European Union with the constitutional amendments, said VMRO-DPMNE’s leader Hristijan Mickoski in a televised debate with SDSM leader Dimitar Kovachevski on Wednesday evening. On the same issue, Kovachevski said the failure to make decisions will keep the country in the status quo or lead it to regression.

Mickoski criticized Kovachevski, Oliver Spasovski, Stevo Pendarovski and other members of the Government for accepting the French proposal.

“Because by doing so, not only did they degrade Macedonia and place the country in a subordinate role, but also tried to manipulate with the conscience and intelligence of the citizens by looking them in the eyes and lying to them about how they consciously worked for the interests of Bulgaria and froze Macedonia’s Euro-integration path,” Mickoski said.

Mickoski said VMRO-DPMNE has clearly stated that there would be no constitutional amendments “under Bulgarian dictate”, adding that all future generations of politicians will have to invest more energy due to the mistake of Kovachevski and the Government.

“Until now the negotiations were on the basis of the Copenhagen Criteria, while now it’s on the basis of a bilateral agreement and we will need to go back to negotiate on the basis of the criteria. You made a huge mistake,” the VMRO-DPMNE leader said.

SDSM’s leader Dimitar Kovachevski said the EU and EU membership are the only chance for positive changes in North Macedonia, stressing that it requires courage and decisiveness.

“I was the one who negotiated the European proposal and those negotiations weren’t easy because they unfolded in conditions of disrupted relations with Bulgaria, when I headed the Government. During those negotiations we went through a difficult period. I’ve said before and I’ll say it again, in those moments I felt as though my stomach was being ripped apart. However, at the end of the day, you have to make a decision, a decision for the future and vision of the country,” Kovachevski said.

Kovachevski said SDSM has a concrete plan over the country’s EU accession, while VMRO-DPMNE only has indecisiveness.

“North Macedonia successfully finished the bilateral screening with the European Union. The thing that remains now is for the country to fulfill its obligation for constitutional amendments and open negotiations by chapters. We had a clear chance but we use it because of a lack of decisiveness by VMRO-DPMNE, Levica and several other parties to vote for the amendments in Parliament. That’s why I am saying we have a plan. What’s Mickoski’s plan? This is the key question – does he have a plan? I believe they have no plan on how Macedonia can become an EU member state,” Kovachevski said. 

Photo: MIA Archive