Skopje, 15 July 2025 (MIA) - SDSM leader Venko Filipche has again called for a leaders' meeting in order to determine the country's red lines and find bipartisan consensus on key national issues.

Filipche told Kanal 5 that the adoption of the European Parliament's report on Macedonia without stating the Macedonian language and identity is a defeat for the Government.

"Bipartisan consensus is the only possible solution for key issues, but this requires sitting down and discussing without calculation and prejudice, so that we see where our red lines lie. I am ready to sit down and discuss on the way forward at any time. Why don't they accept a meeting since they cannot stop calling for national unity? Let's determine the red lines and continue on the European path. We obviously have different positions and this is regretful, but we have to start solving problems,' says Filipche.

According to him, the problem with Bulgaria will not be solved quickly or easily, but the question is whether the country stagnates while solving it.

"The question is whether reforms will take place during this period, will we make the constitutional amendments and then open the accession chapter and start a real reform of the system, or will we wait and say 'the Bulgarians do not recognize us, our language and identity are at risk' and do nothing", says the SDSM leader and adds that the right path sometimes requires bold decisions at the expense of the political rating.

He says the incumbent authorities seem to look for reasons not to move forward on the European path.

"This Government is the same as the one led by Gruevski. Mickoski is referring to national unity but does not say what this entails. All stakeholders have to sit down and determine the red lines. But apart from announcing it, this is not happening, and this populist rule only aims to divide citizens into patriots and traitors. The French proposal has been on the table for three years, how long will we wait?" says Filipche.

He proposes that a referendum is held, at which citizens will decide whether we are ready to continue on the EU path.

"The Government promised that our negotiating position would improve but they failed to deliver on the promises given during the election campaign," underlines Filipche.

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