Skopje, 7 December 2023 (MIA) - Foreign Minister Bujar Osmani says politicians should not give up on the constitutional amendments, which are a requirement for continuation of the EU accession negotiations and opening of the chapters, until the last day of the current Parliament.

"I hope they will be adopted. Politicians should not give up on the process. Even if we fail, this will have a positive collateral effect, because it is more important for me to win over the public than the opposition. The public was subject to fierce propaganda, and in fragile circumstances, people were vulnerable. When you put salt on the wound, the field of angry citizens is set. We had to slowly explain to the people, to tell them the constitutional changes have no alternative," FM Osmani told Kanal 5.

According to him, the opposition does not have a strategy regarding the country's Euro-integration but builds its positions "while riding the wave of the public opinion", adding that the guarantees they demand - no more Bulgarian vetoes - are incorporated in the Negotiating Framework.

"We did not work on convincing Bulgaria but on building a wall between Bulgaria and Brussels, so that Bulgarian demands do not reach Brussels. The Negotiating Framework is now the filter for all Bulgarian demands. The protocol is not in the chapters. The guarantees over the Macedonian language are part of the Negotiating Framework, where it is included as a European language, without any footnotes. The way in which chapters are opened is a guarantee as well, since the bilateral issues are not included, except for the action plan on minorities and the constitutional amendments. The Bundestag resolution is a guarantee, the statement of the Bulgarian government that it will not have further demands is a guarantee. Therefore, one can think of million other reasons to guarantee, but the path is the same, there is no alternative to it," stresses Osmani.

The FM is certain that even if the authorities change, the country will have to find a way to adopt the constitutional amendments in the coming six months, since European reforms cannot be implemented unless accession chapters open and parties come to an agreement.

"European reforms cannot be implemented unilaterally. We must have a national agreement on the European agenda, similar to what the Croats did," says Osmani.

Photo: MIA archive