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Authorities in North Macedonia said today that France’s amended proposal for reaching a compromise with Bulgaria will be discussed by all important institutions and that the process will be transparent.
While government partners hint that the proposal does not impose the touch on Macedonian national and historical issues, the Macedonian opposition, on the other hand, accuses the government of lying and betraying the Macedonian people.
The Prime Minister of North Macedonia, Dimitar Kovacevski met with all the partners of the government coalition to examine what is already known in public opinion as ‘the French proposal‘, which is about ending the deadlock in the talks between North Macedonia and Bulgaria and which enables reaching a compromise between the two countries to pave the way for the integration of the smaller neighbor.
Prime Minister Kovacevski calls the new proposal “an important document for the future of the country”.
While the government has published the proposal on its website, debates have increased regarding whether or not there are changes in the text of the proposal.
The text states, among other things, that “to open the negotiation phase, the European Council will call another intergovernmental conference, as long as North Macedonia implements the commitments related to the constitutional changes, in accordance with its internal procedures.” .
This means the inclusion of the Bulgarian minority in the Preamble of the Constitution, which requires two-thirds of the votes in the parliament of North Macedonia.
Today’s meeting of government partners regarding the proposal will be followed by a broad consultation process, across all important institutions of the country.
Mr. Kovacevski said that he talked with the partners “with facts and details, taking into account the goal and the strategic position, which is integration in the EU”.
“We have before us a proposal that summarizes our remarks and clearly stated positions. The position we are in today is much more favorable for North Macedonia“, he said.
The government sees the proposal as a strong basis for building a serious, responsible and stateful attitude to the opportunity given to the state.
Dimitar Kovacevski claims that they have been preservedred lines‘ imposed by his government on vital issues such as language, identity and history.
The Macedonian side insists that issues of history will not be on the negotiating table with the Bulgarian side, although the deadlock in the talks between the teams of historians of the two countries was the result of disagreements over the identity of some of the historical figures.
Likewise, the Macedonian language in the negotiating framework will be as “Macedonian language”, said Prime Minister Kovacevski.
President Pendarovski has already emphasized that this is a much better proposal than the previous one. Meanwhile, the issue will be discussed in parliament and with the opposition. Even civil society and experts can make their assessments.
The government in Skopje announces that after North Macedonia has given its consent to the negotiation framework and all the EU member states, then an intergovernmental conference will be called for the next steps and for the approval of the negotiation framework.
The Macedonian authorities cannot say how long the consultation process with the internal institutions regarding France’s proposal for reaching a compromise with Bulgaria that would pave the way for the integration process of Skopje and Tirana towards the European Union.
On the other hand, the Macedonian opposition led by VMRO-DPMNE says that Prime Minister Kovacevski and Foreign Minister Bujar Osmani are lying because the French proposal does not make any difference.
VMRO-DPMNE refers to a statement by the Bulgarian Foreign Minister, Teodora Gençovska, who, according to them, told the media in Sofia that “there is no change in the modifications of the text of the proposal”.
VMRO accuses the ruling Social Democratic League of new betrayal against the Macedonian people.
Meanwhile, the Democratic Union for Integration points out that “these chances of a compromise that does not in any way harm the identity, language and national dignity of the Macedonians should not be missed, for the sake of the safe and progressive future of the country and the region“.
The news that North Macedonia and Bulgaria are very close to reaching an agreement with the support of France has been welcomed by the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, who emphasizes that this takes into account interests but also concerns, as she writes on Twitter , after a conversation with the Prime Minister of North Macedonia.
She adds that “the European Commission is ready to start the process with North Macedonia and Albania as a good step on their European path”. Voice of America
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