Skopje, 9 July 2023 (MIA) – Foreign Minister Bujar Osmani said on Sunday that the decision of VMRO-DPMNE to suspend all communication with the government, including the talks about constitutional amendments, is very bad and reckless. By reaching such decision, the opposition party failed once again and showed that it neither wants nor intends to ever overcome challenges facing the country. For VMRO-DPMNE, Osmani added, only power and authority are important.

FM Osmani at a press conference, answering journalist questions regarding the statement of Hristijan Mickoski when he presented the latest party position, first thanked VMRO-DPMNE, and then announced that they will continue working with the party until the last day.

“I think it is honorable on our part and more correct for the citizens to make a joint decision at least once. However, if that doesn't yield results, we must work in parallel with MPs who don't want to be held hostage to ambitions and want to support the country’s European perspective by implementing our interest,” Osmani noted.

Regarding the number of MPs who would vote for the constitutional amendments, Osmani expects that it will be higher than necessary because, according to him, the MPs are more and more aware that the constitutional amendments are in the interest of the state, and that the country will not get a second chance like this.

Osmani hoped that the decision of VMRO-DPMNE is “out of naivety or too much preoccupied by power.”

“The only thing that matters to them is to discuss elections, government and power. And that's unfortunate at this point. They even managed for the right-wing party to be recognized as the antonym of Euro-Atlantic integration. Everywhere the right-wing parties are opt for Euro-Atlantic integration, only in our country it is the other way around,” Osmani said, announcing that they will continue working with the party.

He reminded that there were and still are two options: constitutional amendments or the Commission on Historical Issues.

“We consider this to be our interest - constitutional changes, Bulgarian minority community with all rights. The alternative to the constitutional amendments is to sit down and solve all the issues, as was the dominant approach during the talks with Bulgaria earlier,” Osmani said.

According to Osmani, the Government accepted all requirements, conditions and preconditions set by VMRO-DPMNE to support the constitutional amendments.

Osmani said that it is clear that two groups are emerging in the region - the group that will quickly receive a message and the group with open questions that need to be resolved.

“At the moment it is Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo and with the decision of the MPs, it will depend on whether it will be North Macedonia as well due to the unresolved problems with Bulgaria,” Osmani added.

“I don't know how many times I have to say to debunk the propaganda - the Protocol is not part of the roadmaps, the Treaty with Bulgaria is not part of the roadmaps. The only thing that will be assessed during the negotiations in the opening and closing of the chapters are the roadmaps - the three roadmaps, and the Protocol and Treaty with Bulgaria are not mentioned.

Photo: MIA