Skopje, 9 May 2023 (MIA) – The constitutional amendments to include parts of other nationalities in the Preamble of our Constitution is one of the decisions which requires a two-third majority in Parliament ahead of our accession to full-fledged EU membership. There will be other decisions that will require a two-third majority. These decisions must not be subject to political blackmail, Prime Minister Dimitar Kovachevski said in an interview for the Voice of America during his working visit to the United States.

Kovachevski said that if these decisions become subject to political blackmail, then the country will be unable to progress towards the fulfillment of its strategic goal.

“EU membership, which leads to a better living standard, higher wages, better judiciary, social protection etc., cannot be held hostage by one man or one political party. This is a process of all political parties, this is not a process of a single person or a single party, nor a process of a single Government. This is a broad social process which has already begun,” said the PM.

Kovachevski added that once the working group in charge of drafting the constitutional amendments finalizes the text, a public process of consultations with the business community, the academic community and the political parties will begin, after which the amendments will enter into parliamentary procedure, where all political parties and the MPs, have an obligation to choose a better future for current and future generations.

The PM said that one of the reasons for EU membership is the greater standard of living.

“We can see the differences when a country is and isn’t an EU member. Who could have imagined in the past that our citizens would be leaving to work in Prague or Bratislava or any other country who in the past was a member of the Warsaw Pact, it was unimaginable back then,” said Kovachevski, adding that EU membership means better infrastructure, better services for the citizens and a higher standard of living.

Photo: Government of North Macedonia