Skopje, 24 June 2022 (MIA) – The Friendship Treaty has its instruments and the commission on history is part of that treaty, the same as these protocols. This is a bilateral issue between us and Bulgaria. This protocol cannot be a benchmark in the negotiations or be mentioned in the negotiating framework, said Deputy PM for European Affairs Bojan Marichikj on Friday. Regarding Bulgarian demands for inclusion of a reference to the protocols arising from the Friendship Treaty in the negotiating framework, as well as the signing of a bilateral protocol comprised of historical, educational and identity issues, as negotiated and aligned between the countries’ ministries of foreign affairs, Deputy PM Marichikj told Telma TV that the text of the protocol has not been harmonized, agreed or signed, and there are still open issue that require discussion. “The framework is a document that prescribes the path for the next ten years and the course of the EU negotiations, a basis for the EU accession treaty. The important thing is that we start the negotiations. The moment we start the talks, we launch the screening process, which means an analysis of our legislation and practices vis-à-vis the EU law and practices,” said Marichikj. He added it is important for North Macedonia that the first Intergovernmental Conference is not a symbolic one but an event marking the real start of the negotiations. “If this happens, we can further debate when and how to make the constitutional revision. Our position since day one was that the constitutional changes are possible and can be done until the end of the negotiations,” said Marichikj.