Macedonia will not conduct the constitutional changes demanded by Bulgaria without clear guarantees for its European perspective, said Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski today, a day after his meeting with European Council President Antonio Costa.
Our position is clear and unchanged. There is no price that can force us to enter into a process where we don’t know that there is a clear outcome at the end. There is no price that will get me, as President of the Government, to embark on such an adventure without a clear perspective, said Mickoski, noting that in the past 26 years Macedonia was given numerous promises that the EU integration process will follow after some conditions are met, only to remain stuck. Mickoski also warned that the situation in Bulgaria is getting more hardline.
According to the information I have, the situation there is radicalizing dramatically. It’s not only that the constitutional changes are not the only condition for us, but additional questions are being raised, said Mickoski, who pointed to the recent meeting between the foreign ministers of the two countries in Sweden, where the new Bulgarian Government presented its initial positions.
The Prime Minister again rebuked the opposition SDSM party, which is cleary signalling that, if it ever comes to power again, it will meet all the Bulgarian demands. This, according to Mickoski, makes Bulgaria more hardline and reduces the chances that officials in Sofia will agree to compromise. SDSM leader Venko Filipce said that Costa’s comments in Skopje, that Macedonia can open the accession talks only if it meets the Bulgarian demands, is evidence that we must make concessions.
Bulgaria watches with glee at the small group of politicians in Macedonia who would sell out our national interests to be in power. SDSM is proposing a policy of subservience toward Bulgaria. Bulgaria is not in a hurry. They waited decades for someone like Zoran Zaev to come along, and it’s not a problem for them to wait for someone like him, said VMRO-DPMNE spokesman Valentin Manasievski today.
