Skopje, 21 July 2022 (MIA) – We still haven’t determined the date or the dynamics of the amendments related to the inclusion of Bulgarians and other communities to the Preamble of the Constitution, but we should finish it by the end of the screening process at the latest, and it is up to us whether we will stop there or continue with the negotiations, chapters and clusters, said Deputy Prime Minister for European Affairs Bojan Marichikj on Thursday. “We will carefully consider the circumstances and the way in which we start the dialogue in Parliament with the aim of finishing the constitutional amendment process successfully. We will make a decision when the dialogue begins in Parliament and among political parties, that will of course be after the Parliament’s summer recess and only then we will be able to talk about precise dates. For us, the most important thing is neither to go too fast, nor to lag behind, but for the process to have a positive outcome,” said Deputy PM Marichikj in response to a question on the dynamics of the constitutional amendments in line with the French proposal. He emphasized the importance of the constitutional amendments for the continuation of the negotiations process, without additional political decisions by the EU Council, underlining that they will consult experts in constitutional law, who were involved in previous phases of the Constitutional amendments. “Of course, the process will begin with a government initiative for constitutional amendments, as it did for the Prespa Agreement. When the text is determined, we will begin the process, but the most important thing is the creation of an atmosphere which will prevent a repetition of what we had in Parliament last week, a situation which did not provide conditions for a dialogue, nor for a normal exchange of arguments,” said Marichikj. The idea is for an open and public debate to be held concerning the process, which would include those in charge of implementing the amendments, as well as the representatives of the communities that should be added in the Constitution. “In terms of content, these constitutional amendments would be the simplest ones, because we already have seven communities mentioned in the Constitution and we would add at least three or how many more we decide. I don’t see why anyone would oppose this, considering that our constitutional concept allows for the communities to be mentioned in the Constitution and thus gain certain rights based on the Ohrid Framework Agreement,” said Marichikj. “You remember that the opposition insisted on a referendum for the Agreement with Greece. That was a long-term commitment mentioned in all of the opposition’s political manifestos for years. The Government accepted that in 2018 and decided to hold a referendum, which in the end was boycotted by the party that was asking for it for years. By doing so, they left a stain on the entire process, even though they could have participated in order to close that issue,” said Marichikj. According to him, that should be a lesson, because this time the institutions have enough legitimacy, especially in Parliament, to discuss, and through a democratic dialogue, to reach a two-thirds majority, which would give a completely sufficient guarantee and legitimacy to the constitutional amendments even without a referendum. “The Government hasn’t discussed and hasn’t made a decision on this issue, but my personal position is that there is no need for a referendum and it is better for the institutions to take the responsibility, instead of using a possible referendum for manipulations and political gains,” said Marichikj. ad/ik/