Skopje, 13 March 2025 (MIA) - Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski said Thursday there would be no vote on the constitutional amendments until Bulgaria implements the “obligations it has accepted”, referring to the rights of minorities.

Quizzed in an interview with Kanal 5 TV about what the Government would do if the US were to say the constitutional amendments should be adopted, Mickoski said such a thing wouldn’t happen.

“I won’t vote for them, this won’t happen. I won’t vote for them until Bulgaria also implements the obligations it has accepted, which is to respect the rights of all minorities. And these rights are included in the rulings of the [European] Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg,” Mickoski said.

Asked about the new political Government in Bulgaria and whether things could move forward, Mickoski spoke about the meeting between the foreign ministers of both countries, Timcho Mucunski and Georg Georgiev, in Munich, noting that the meeting did not move things forward and “there was no understanding, only a blockade”.

“Today’s decision not to invest in Corridor VIII says a lot about how great of a partner to NATO our eastern neighbor is, a corridor which is the second most important for the alliance... Their Government made a decision not to invest in the modernization of Corridor VIII. If they are making such a decision about Corridor VIII, which should have been a formality and for which they accused us, imagine what awaits us in the future,” Mickoski said.

According to the Prime Minister, the country’s EU membership doesn’t depend on what resolution “but on bilateral relations which has unfortunately been permitted by the European Union”.

“They won’t respect you unless you show character and values in which you believe. If you think that you can reach the top by groveling you are lying to yourself, at least that’s what I think. I believe it is better to do things the hard way than the shameful way. These are the principles and the values I believe in,” Mickoski said.

Mickoski said the citizens have given him a mandate to defend the country’s interests.

“Whether I am wrong I don’t know, whether I will succeed I don’t know. I received my legitimacy from the citizens 9 months ago, half a million people showed up and voted. I have no intention to kiss pens, to smile while being insulted, degraded and belittled. The things I believe in and my arguments, I am not saying they are the most correct, but I have received the citizens’ trust to present these arguments that defend the interests of this country, of all its citizens,” Mickoski stressed.

According to the Prime Minister, as one of the smaller countries in Europe, North Macedonia should always “stick to its largest strategic partners”.

“We need a smart policy. There are many EU member states, as well as candidates, who are working with countries from the east, yet they still made progress in their EU membership [process]. Unfortunately, we aren’t progressing. When you have double standards and exceptions once, it becomes a practice,” Mickoski said.

Photo: MIA Archive