Osmani – Fajon: Any provocative statement, insult to citizens of North Macedonia demands reaction
Skopje, 18 October 2022 (MIA) – Any provocative, unacceptable and insulting statement demands a reaction. The minister expressed his reaction with a verbal note, I support that and in a similar situation I would react the same way, Slovenian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Tanja Fajon said Tuesday in Skopje, speaking at a joint press conference with her host, Foreign Minister Bujar Osmani, in connection with the latest provocative statement by Bulgarian MEP Angel Dzhambaski.
“This morning, Minister Osmani briefed me on this unfortunate event by Dzhambaski. I hope he will send a diplomatic note today. It is an insult to the citizens of the Republic of North Macedonia and I was a witness and condemned his activities and statements. All those provocations at a time when the countries are trying to enable a positive environment amid such conditions, I call on all friends in neighboring Bulgaria to refrain from inappropriate comments that bring discord, indignation and conflicts between the population,” Fajon said in response to a reporter’s question to comment on such behavior by Dzhambaski, who gave an address standing in front of a map of Great Bulgaria, insulting Prime Minister Dimitar Kovachevski and the Macedonian people, and whether the EP can do something about this because it’s not the first time it is happening.
Minister Osmani said Skopje will react on Tuesday by sending a note to Sofia on Dzhambaski’s statement, adding that he expects a reaction from the Bulgarian authorities as well.
“Today we will react by sending a note regarding the statement of the MEP as hate speech, which according to all the international and bilateral agreements we have with the EU is a basis for reaction and a reason to react. Even though we tried to ignore it over this period because the goal of the MEP is to use those reactions for self-promotion, however, this time it really crossed all limits of provocation, and this time the Bulgarian state and everyone must react because these are now territorial claims and insulting speech towards the people, towards ethnic communities, and we will certainly not keep quiet about that,” Osmani told reporters.
Regarding the Slovenian experience with the EU accession negotiations, Fajon stressed that there was consensus on this topic, adding that it is also what the country needs.
“I agree with this conclusion. The question of EU membership at the time when Slovenia was joining the EU was a topic that brought us together, the government, the opposition, the people. I expect that it will be the same in North Macedonia. We should focus on fulfilling the requirements, and above all, on the change to the Constitution. It is something that can be done. That's why I call on all political forces to support the path of unity, responsibility and we hope for a change to the Constitution according to the time frame, which means that the negotiations can continue without delay until the end of the screening of the legislation,” said Fajon.
FM Osmani stressed that if the country wants to join the EU in 2030, the government and the opposition must join forces, and the political parties should remove this topic from daily political bickering.
He once again urged everyone to make the most of this opportunity and July 19 as a historic moment on the country’s European path, and called on party leaders to sign a memorandum, an agreement that they will help each other on EU issues regardless of who is in power.
“The citizens and the country must be the winners of this process. I once again urge everyone, as a Foreign Minister, the time is now and every single day wasted in terms of achieving this agreement will be a day of delay in achieving the ultimate goal, which is EU membership. There is no other way but to join hands. This is the highest state and national interest and we must not have differences here,” said Osmani.
In the context of what he expects from the opposition parties in terms of his appeal, the Foreign Minister noted that he doesn’t take Levica into account because, he added, the party is a structure in the function of Russian propaganda, but as regards the opposition, he doesn’t believe that there is another political party in the country which doesn’t condemn Russian aggression against Ukraine, including VMRO-DPMNE.
Underlining that he is making the appeal in the interest of the country’s integration in the EU, Osmani noted that there’s no official invitation to the opposition for a framework agreement, but it is a matter of an appeal by the Foreign Ministry as an institution, with which the Prime Minister has agreed.
Asked why the country still has no ambassador to the EU, Osmani pointed out that there is again an obstacle in the Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee, because the ambassador who is supposed to be sent to Brussels in the mission of the Republic of North Macedonia to the EU, should first be called to the Commission.
“This is another opportunity for me to publicly call on the Chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee not to block the ambassadors anymore because in conditions where we have started the screening, and when dozens of representatives from different institutions are currently in Brussels, we don’t have an ambassador because of the daily politics going on here. So, I hope this message gets through to the Foreign Affairs Committee, otherwise we’ll have to find an alternative way again,” Osmani said.
