Skopje, 14 April 2023 (MIA) – The constitutional changes are defined in the protocol signed with Bulgaria – how they will look like and the position of Bulgarians in the Constitution. Therefore, the work of the commission set up in the Ministry of Justice will be easy because they only have to take a look at the protocol, which reads that communities set to be added – Croats, Bulgarians and others – will be incorporated where other ethnic communities are listed, after the comma before others. There can be no difference from the others, said Foreign Minister Bujar Osmani on Friday.

FM Osmani was quizzed during a joint press conference with Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation Jose Manuel Albares Bueno regarding statements coming from Sofia that Bulgarians should be listed as Macedonian Bulgarians in the Constitution.

On the statement of Bulgarian Foreign Minister Nikolay Milkov that no progress has been made regarding the protocol and textbooks, Osmani said political assessments on the degree of the agreement's realization should not be made on media, since a specific mechanism is making an objective evaluation.

"These are the intergovernmental commissions that meet and assess. Otherwise, if we go into political assessments by media, I believe we will lose sight of the purpose of institutionalizing relations with Bulgaria," said Osmani.

The FM added that he did not give media statements because he did not want to bring North Macedonia into Bulgaria's election campaign.

"The important thing is to have good will. Finding negative elements and rhetoric will not lead us anywhere. We have a positive agenda and positive intention to improve relations with Bulgaria. Our position is clear, we are prepared to communicate but not to enter into polemics about these important issues over the media," underlined Osmani.