Long-awaited constitutional changes pending approval by Macedonian government

A set of constitutional amendments that would pave the way for North Macedonia to continue its stalled EU accession process are under review by the government and could be passed to parliament by Friday, but there, they are likely to hit a brick wall.

Sofia vetoed Skopje’s accession over historical, language, and cultural disputes and demanded changes to the constitution to include the Bulgarian minority as an ethnic group. For over a year, the situation has remained at an impasse as the Macedonian government does not have the majority needed to pass such changes.

The proposed amendments, prepared by a group of experts from the Justice Ministry, are currently in the hands of the government, which will greenlight it and send it for parliamentary approval.

The changes will include the Bulgarian minority, along with Jews, Slovenes, Croats and Egyptians. But the amendments are not popular with the opposition party VMRO-DPMNE led by Hristijan Mickoski.

“I will participate in the leaders’ meeting, and on behalf of the overwhelming majority of the population seeking to protect our identity, I will say that we will not accept constitutional changes or dictates from the Bulgarian side. We will not allow the will of the people to be trampled upon, as the government is doing. I will not allow our identity to be violated. North Macedonia is not for sale,” Mickoski stated.

This means that the proposal will likely not get past the parliamentary stage. But Prime Minister Dimitar Kovacevski from the Social Democratic Union of Macedonia said this is crucial for the country’s EU integration.

“Now is when North Macedonia must adopt important decisions and continue the European integration process. We hear this message every day from our European and American friends. I don’t think there can be clearer messages than these. Political parties and members of parliament must work towards the realisation of this goal for the citizens, integration into the EU,” Kovačevski said.

He added that if the opposition does not allow the changes, North Macedonia will lose its chance in the integration process and return to isolation. Meanwhile, Mickoski said they are already isolated in the current situation, and things cannot get worse.

Ethnic Albanian parties are divided by the BESA Movement calling for the inclusion or a revision of the Albanian language in the constitution. Meanwhile, the Democratic Union for Integration leader Ali Ahmeti said the act would close a “historic chapter of disagreements.”

Without Albanian party approval and that of VMRO-DPMNE, the amendments will not pass as it requires a two-thirds majority, which is currently not attainable.

(Alice Taylor | Exit.al)