Skopje, 29 May 2023 (MIA) – The opposition’s stance on the constitutional changes means that we will block our own Euro-integrations on December 1, and this is cause for concern for our strategic partner the United States, said President Stevo Pendarovski at a press conference Monday.

In answer to a journalist’s question on whether during his meeting with Senator Chris Murphy last week he was told that NATO would be concerned if the constitutional amendments aren’t adopted, Pendarovski said the issue wasn’t raised at all at the meeting.

“I assume Senator Murphy knew my position, the position of the Government, and that we have no issue with these types of constitutional amendments. I have reiterated many times that the inclusion of other parts of people within the Constitution will not threaten the security of Macedonia, nor its future, the opposite may be true. I can only guess, but I assume that Senator Murphy was addressing the people from the opposition with whom he also met, and their position is known. They don’t want to think about the constitutional amendments under any condition at this period or until the end of the mandate of the current parliamentary composition. This can mean only one thing, that we will block ourselves on December 1, and this of course is a cause for concern for our biggest strategic partner,” said Pendarovski.

The President confirmed he is familiar with the contents of the constitutional amendments, which are set to be adopted by the Government on Tuesday and submitted to Parliament.

“I repeat once more, it is in line with what has been agreed. I know the amendments i.e., the text of the draft amendments because I have my own representative in the group, my advisor for legal affairs, Aleksandar Spasov, and I think from the very first word until the last, we are fully within the frameworks of what Parliament adopted a year ago,” said Pendarovski.

Asked if he still thinks the procedure for the constitutional changes should not begin without political consensus, the President said the procedure in Parliament should begin even if the required majority isn’t secured.

“Today, I believe it is better to submit it to Parliament, even under the assumption that there aren’t 80 votes secured. With the very first vote that requires two-thirds, the two main blocs in the country would be identified – the pro-European and the anti-European bloc. Just as a reminder, in 2015, before the vote for the Prespa Agreement, the Government did not have 80 votes secured at that moment. Those were dramatic moments when it wasn’t known if there would be a majority for the change to the Constitution until the very last moment,” said Pendarovski.

On whether he would host a leaders’ meeting, the President underscored that it would make more sense for the Government to host it.

“The Prime Minister extended an invitation for a meeting to the opposition. Since the Government is the formal petitioner of the initiative for the constitutional amendments, I think it would be logical to wait for the opposition to answer that call. I have no issue with hosting it, however, since the Government is the one that should initiate the amendments, it makes sense that they should host these meetings. Although, being familiar with the opposition’s stance on the issue, I really don’t know what they would offer at that meeting with the Government, since their position is well-known. They first want to come to power and then discuss the amendments,” stressed President Stevo Pendarovski.