Skopje, 15 August 2022 (MIA) – The Minister of Culture, Bisera Kostadinovska Stojchevska said in a TV interview on Monday, that the booing of the Macedonian language at the Ohrid Framework Agreement celebration was a provocation. “Provocations exist and will always exist, that doesn’t mean we should remain silent when they happen. Regardless, I believe that these provocations weren’t coming from the people in power and I hope that the booing came from a completely different segment,” said the Minister when asked if the Government will react to the booing. According to her, another provocation is the placing of the Bulgarian flag on the Goce Delchev monument in Skopje by members of the Association of Bulgarians in the country. “We as a country look after our cultural heritage, which includes monuments and all other landmarks. I wouldn’t like to comment on the reasons why the Bulgarian flag was placed on the monument, but still in a way this is becoming a kind of provocation that both countries don’t need at this delicate moment,” said the Minister of Culture. She also talked about adding the Bulgarians to the Constitution and stated that she sees nothing wrong with it. “With the inclusion of the Bulgarians in the Constitution all political claims that we’re heading towards bulgarization or assimilation become irrelevant. This is the opposition’s problem, because they know that what will happen is we will have the Macedonians on one side in the Constitution and then the Bulgarians which make up a certain percent of the population. I am sure that no freethinking citizen has anything against the inclusion of the Bulgarians, Montenegrins, Croats and all other smaller groups to the Constitution, because with that a clear definition is made that there is a Macedonian language, culture and identity, represented by the Macedonian people in North Macedonia and that there are a cultures, identities and languages of the other groups of citizens who speak different languages,” said Kostadinovska Stojchevska. On whether the Government has a majority for the constitutional amendments and whether a “certain scenario with bribes, pressure” is being planned, the Minister said “this is not a government which adopts laws for the good of the country and the people by means of blackmail, bribes or threats”. She said she believes that Bulgaria has no new demands from the country, and on whether they secretly desire something, she said she couldn’t say. “Bulgaria can secretly desire whatever it wants, whether that will become reality can be seen in what their demands were in the past and what they are right now. As long as SDSM is in power they will hit a wall,” said Minister of Culture Bisera Kostadinovska Stojchevska in an interview with Kanal 5 Television. ad/sk/