Skopje, 19 September 2023 (MIA) - I hear Mickoski saying 'Bulgarian dictate', what Bulgarian dictate when it is a Franco-German proposal, with the Macedonian nation automatically gaining international legitimacy. The German Bundestag voted to recognize the language, culture and Macedonian nation; there is an initiative in the American Congress that the Senate honors the culture, language and Macedonian history, let's not miss this opportunity because historically nations and states were built through alliances and friendship, because otherwise we will be left alone, isolated, lose the chance for EU membership and then fight amongst ourselves about who is the traitor, we will look for the traitors," says DUI leader Ali Ahmeti in regard to VMRO-DPMNE leader Hristijan Mickoski's statements.

In a TV interview with MRT1 on Monday evening, Ahmeti says that when Bulgarians get introduced as a constitutional category, a "distinction is automatically made between Macedonians and the Bulgarian minority." According to him, Washington, Brussels and NATO worked intensely for four years to make amendments to the Constitution and for the Bulgarian minority to become part of it.

"You get international legitimacy, language, tradition, culture - this is a historical moment, we are all for this solution, and if I wasn’t sure, I wouldn’t be here right now, pleading with you, to the opposition, that the key moment is today, tomorrow will be too late and we will start fighting about who is the traitor, Mickoski, Zoran Zaev or Kovacheski. This clash will happen tomorrow, because these chances only come once, and this is the right moment, international legitimacy for the Macedonian nation, language and history. What did we get from the Greek side by not solving the issue in the right moment? We degraded because the proposal was initially better than the solution we offered. Changing the name was only for external, not internal use," Ahmeti stressed.

To the journalist's remark that the Macedonian people might say that it is easy for Ahmeti to talk about constitutional amendments and the relationship with Bulgaria because the Albanian identity is not the one at stake, he notes that fellow Macedonians should not think that "we are working behind your back because this country is also ours, we want to build our future here because we were born here."

"In this situation, I, as representative of the Albanians, say that because I know what the Albanian people are thinking, they stand with you in finding solutions for the final issue and identity that are being disputed by a neighbor. It is not easy to dispute and create a problem for your neighbor because evil always comes from them, not from afar. We organized ourselves without making noise, without being loud, but always directly in order to reach a just solution, without first endangering and risking the identity of our fellow Macedonian citizens," Ahmeti added.

Photo: MIA archive