Ohrid, 7 May 2022 (MIA) – VMRO-DPMNE won’t back changes to the Macedonian Constitution that Bulgaria demands, because there’s no guarantee that it will close all open issues between the two countries, the party leader Hristijan Mickoski said on Saturday. In response to a reporter’s question about Foreign Minister Bujar Osmani’s announcements that Bulgaria might lift the veto by June, Mickoski said he believed that negotiations with the European Union won’t start until the country agrees to the overall negotiating framework. “The negotiating framework will include Bulgaria’s demands, including intervention in the Macedonian Constitution. VMRO-DPMNE will not back such changes to the Macedonian Constitution, as this requires two thirds, precisely because we have no guarantee that it will close all open issues between Macedonia and Bulgaria and that there won’t be more such demands from politicians in our eastern neighbor until the membership of Macedonia in the EU,” said Mickoski who was in Ohrid on Saturday to oversee construction works. Mickoski said that only Europe can do something, accusing Osmani of manipulating the public. “One thing’s clear. If it all depends on him and on Kovachevski and Petkov, there won’t be any negotiations. At best, there will be an intergovernmental conference, i.e. an event to pose for the cameras, without any substance, and there will be negotiations when Bulgaria’s demands are met, which Kovachevski and Osmani want to accept and be part of the negotiating framework. VMRO-DPMNE will never agree,” Mickoski stressed. He mentioned that he’s been calling for dialogue for several months now because “Macedonia is in crisis.” He called on SDSM leader Dimitar Kovachevski and leaders of coalition partners to sit down for talks over a date for early parliamentary elections. “Until then I offer four teams to help as much as they can in mitigating the effects of the crisis situation in our country,” Mickoski said, reiterating his position about active Parliament blockade after May 10.