Skopje, 19 November 2024 (MIA) - We are certain that we will reach the finish line with the proposal that we have put forth for the constitutional changes. I am convinced that this is the most we can do at this moment, Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski told Radio Television of Kosovo (RTK) in an interview made during his visit to Pristina.

In the interview, the Prime Minister said he is more optimistic now than he was a year ago, noting that this is the result of a “diplomatic offensive” realized over the past few months.

“In this race we did a lot to get to the starting position, and now, in athletic terms, we need to run a 110m hurdles race. And we see the first hurdle. With the current constitutional amendments we are only able to leap over the first hurdle, but no one guarantees that we will reach the finish line. We are ready to begin the procedure for constitutional amendments in Parliament and amendments 37 and 38 will become a part of the Constitution. But we will add that these two amendments come into effect once Bulgaria’s Parliament ratifies the EU accession treaty. This is the only way we can be sure that we will reach the finish line,” Mickoski stressed.

According to Mickoski almost all EU member states see the Government’s proposal for the amendments as “rational” and a “basis for agreement”.

“This doesn’t require the parliaments to ratify anything, it only requires that we shake hands and launch the process. That’s all there is to it. They often bring up the rule of unanimity within the EU. I will remind you that during the summit in December of last year, when there was also an issue that lacked consensus, the rule of unanimity turned into a rule of one person is missing. So, I understand that there are double standards in global politics, and that we must fight, but that fight should at least be fair,” Mickoski said.

The Prime Minister said there is currently no better alternative to the European Union, and that the country “expects the EU to keep its word”.

“What we expect is for them to keep their word, the promise they made when the country’s constitutional name was being changed, that we would join NATO and immediately launch [EU membership] negotiations because we are head of everyone in the region and conclude negotiations within four-five years. Do you know when those four or five years passed? Last year. How much more will we have to degrade and deny ourselves to get something to guarantee that we will reach the finish line,” Mickoski stressed.

The PM said there is a difference between a negotiating framework in line with the Copenhagen criteria and a negotiating framework with a bilateral agreement.

“No one has anything against progress towards the EU in line with achievements. In fact, the screening report shows that 55 percent of our legislation is aligned, and we have no issues with this. We have nothing against being vetoed due to a lack of rule of law or corruption, but if we get vetoed just because our textbooks state that Goce Delchev was Macedonian, or something from the medieval ages, then it is a bit unnatural. This is precisely what we want to change,” Mickoski said.

Photo: MIA Archive