Skopje, 8 May 2023 (MIA) – Deputy Prime Minister in charge of European affairs Bojan Marichikj said Monday he expects the text of the constitutional amendments to be finalized soon in the working group, so they can discuss and submit them to Parliament during May.

“I expect the text to be finalized in a matter of a few days or weeks, so we can see the amendments publicly as early as this month, to discuss them and then submit them to Parliament. I expect that we will meet the November deadline, but this depends on Parliament’s schedule. I think this procedure should begin before Parliament’s summer recess,” said Marichikj.

According to information he received from the representative of the Secretariat for European Affairs in the working group, the work pace of the working group is going well, and they will hold another meeting on Tuesday.

Asked if the working group is working on other issues related to the constitutional amendments as well, or if it is strictly sticking to the protocol with Bulgaria, Marichikj said that the Secretariat’s representative and the representative of SDSM have a clear direction and are focusing exclusively on the requirements of the negotiating framework.

“All issues are legitimate, and I expect they will be raised because there are representatives of political parties in the working group, but I believe that there will be time for all legitimate issues in the future. Now we need to focus on our task from the negotiating framework. I don’t expect that the outcome will contain other issues,” said Marchikj.

On the planned commitments in the field of corruption, Marichikj said he will raise the issue to the Prime Minister and the institutions in order to draft a mini-reform plan to be realized before the summer.

“I think it will be necessary to take a few steps to bolster the policies in the fight against corruption and strengthen the judiciary because these things are connected. Once the Prime Minister returns from the U.S. I plan to raise this issue from the aspect of EU integrations, so that we can create a mini-reform plan to be realized before the summer,” said Marichikj.

Regarding the events in the Judicial Council, the Deputy PM said that it is important to pay attention to the procedure and public image.

“The only thing I’ve said to the judges and prosecutors in our talks is to pay attention to their public image and their work because it is of crucial importance that the public has greater trust in the judiciary. Everyone, from the Government, the Judicial Council to the judiciary should take up their part of the responsibility in order to raise trust. The Judicial Council is an independent body, the Government does not intend to meddle, but everyone needs to explain the decisions they’ve made to the public, because this is the only way the public can trust in their work,” said Marichikj.

Photo: MIA Archive