Skopje, 26 September 2025 (MIA) - Without guarantees, I won’t even consider constitutional changes. Our position is clear – we are not ignoring the obligations unfortunately accepted by the previous SDSM Government, but we also do not see our eastern neighbor taking any steps toward fulfilling its own commitments. We expect more robust action from the European Union with our eastern neighbor, that is their partner within the European family, because we’ve seen many times in the past – when there was a will, everything was possible, Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski said on Friday.

The PM stressed that “only Macedonian red lines” exist for him, adding that he would voice his position on SDSM’s Resolution after the elections.  

“We have a clear position, guarantees – as mentioned by the President of the European Council – because the Macedonian citizens, regardless of their ethnic background, have given so much in the name of the country’s European future, more than any other nation in Europe if we start analyzing from the 18th and 19th centuries onward – let’s not even speak of the most recent period. Without such guarantees, I won’t even consider any constitutional changes,” Mickoski said.

The Prime Minister also raised the issue of the Macedonians living in Bulgaria.

“What about the Macedonians on the other side of that border? What about them? Will we, as governments, always abandon the Macedonian people in neighboring countries and around the world? I will never do that. All that needs to be done is to implement the rulings from Strasbourg, nothing more. That is international law, and Bulgaria is a signatory to those conventions. They simply need to apply what the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg has ruled, which is a fundamental European value, that OMO Ilinden Pirin should be able to function as an association of Macedonians in Bulgaria and thereby gain the right to appoint a representative to Bulgaria’s Minority Council, just as Jews, Armenians, Turks, Roma, and others do. Macedonians deserve this, especially those who, according to the 1956 census, were the majority in western Bulgaria, and by 1965, 200.000 of them had magically disappeared. They deserve to have their own representative there. And we must firmly adhere to the July 2022 Resolution, which was jointly adopted by Parliament with 95 votes. We are not asking for anything else – this is what we are asking for. These are all facts. When we see readiness from the other side, we too will be ready to sit down and talk," the Prime Minister stressed.

According to the Prime Minister, the current SDSM leadership has chosen to continue the practice of its predecessors “of destroying the positions of the Macedonian Government and state, and selling out identity and national priorities for incomprehensible reasons”.

"If they did this in the past to stay in power and to misuse the institutions and resources of the state, I could somewhat understand it. But now, as the opposition, I don’t understand why they feel the need to undermine the position of the Government that is trying to fix what they sold off over the past seven years, both internationally and domestically. The so-called Resolution and its contents will be reviewed after the elections, that’s how I understood SDSM. There are historical falsifications in it. While we celebrate 80 years since the codification of the Macedonian language, they try to convince us it was accepted by the UN in 2019. And yesterday I stated the fact that in 2005, it wasn’t North Macedonia that received a date to start negotiations, but the Republic of Macedonia. These are historical falsifications, and I don’t know how long these people will continue using them. Regarding the Resolution, the little we have to say will be said after the elections. We have not accepted their red lines. I accept only Macedonian red lines," Mickoski said.

Photo: MIA