Skopje, 2 July 2022 (MIA) – Foreign Minister Bujar Osmani told a press briefing on Saturday that the issue of the Macedonian language has been settled and that all lies related to it should be “dismantled”. The FM claims that the negotiating framework to be signed with the European Union read that North Macedonia would translate the EU law in Macedonian language, the same as frameworks for other countries, with Bulgaria presenting its position in a statement that will enter the Council minutes. Osmani told the press that Bulgaria’s statement would say that the Macedonian language did not exist until 1945 and had been one of their dialects. North Macedonia will also have its own statement in the minutes. The FM said he has been trying, over the past couple of days, to dismantle the logic that “we should remain blocked so that we are not blocked in the future”, which he said was an illogical phrase by itself both in grammar and substance, because the country should remain blocked out of the fear of being blocked, which is both irrational and damaging. “It is irrational and damaging to claim that our identity will change, that we will be ‘bulgarized’. On the contrary, the language issue is closed once and for all,” said Osmani. He clarified that the negotiating framework is to be adopted on the same day we approve the package. “The framework reads ‘Macedonian language’ without any additions, and from that moment on, it becomes an official language in the EU and the negotiating process and afterwards by the EU membership,” noted Osmani. According to him, the same paragraph on the language is used for Serbia, Albania, and Montenegro. “This is the biggest victory in the process, not a side effect. The language issue is closed both in the UN and the EU, there will never be a dispute related to the language ever again. All issues – language, identity etc – are closed in the framework,” added Osmani. According to him, speculation of a footnote about the language and qualifications about the framework are false. “Yes, there is a unilateral statement by Bulgaria, but not in the framework, it is in the minutes. Consider this as a meeting where we adopt the framework. Someone will say ‘yes, but I have an opinion.’ The opinion is recorded in the minutes but it does not enter the document or the conclusions. The reporter writes that someone said something and that is it. This is the Portuguese proposal – no legal implications on the use and interpretation of the language. I say with full responsibility this is a clear issue and all comments related to the language are false, manipulative and made out of vanity, ignorance and all other possible arguments, but the truth is the following – the framework makes the Macedonian language official and as such becomes part of the 25 European languages,” said Osmani. We got a historic framework, he said, to start negotiations tomorrow, the day after tomorrow, anytime we want, so that we receive more funds and change the country’s course.