Skopje, 1 May 2024 (MIA) - I will respect it but not use it, says VMRO-DPMNE presidential candidate Gordana Siljanovska-Davkova on the use of constitutional name North Macedonia if elected president.

"When I said I would not use North, I did not mean that I would remove the boards in front of institutions, at international conferences or in bilateral meetings. Far from it. I am speaking about myself. The right of self-determination is also a personal right and no one can order you to use something that your mind and heart do not accept. I will respect it but I will not use North, I will say Macedonia and never create confusion, since I will not have to make a distinction between the Republic of south Macedonia. There is no such country. Therefore, when I speak, I will say Macedonia, Macedonian. It will read North Macedonia in front of me, but as far as I am concerned, this issue will never be closed," Siljanovska-Davkova told a TV duel with SDSM candidate Stevo Pendarovski.

Pendarovski says it is impossible not to use the constitutional name at the United Nations, EU, NATO and other international institutions, because this would lead to the country's ejection from the Alliance.

"As president, you have the right to a personal opinion and you can say 'Macedonia timeless', 'Macedonia forever', within your family, as much as you like. It is impossible to do this at the UN or NATO because we are members there, or in the EU because we are a negotiating candidate, in the Council of Europe, anywhere. They will not allow you to do this. Greece will send a note, someone else will do that, and it will result in a blockade and ejection from NATO, where we barely got in and an organization that is very important, something that my opponent has also said in her programme," says Pendarovski.

The presidential candidates also presented their positions on the constitutional changes and whether the EU accession negotiations have started or not.

According to Pendarovski, the accession talks started with the first intergovernmental conference, adding that the Negotiating Framework and the constitutional amendments go hand in hand.

"The EU Council says the constitutional revision is a political prerequisite and then you open cluster by cluster. Therefore, the claim that 'we are not against the Negotiating Framework but against the constitutional change' is not sustainable," says Pendarovski.

Siljanovska-Davkova asked Pendarovski how can he promise a constitutional change when this is not in his jurisdiction but the Parliament's, while saying "how come that no one remembered to tell those in the Council and the European Commission, and all others, that by this they are tearing down EU's fundamental values".

On her message when meeting the president of Bulgaria or EU officials, Siljanovska-Davkova says she would remind him on the preamble of the Friendship Treaty that no agreement is eternal and can be changed, and that the Treaty does not say a word about constitutional changes.

"The core aspect is to protect minority rights. They are protected in our country but not in Bulgaria, which is a signatory of the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities and the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages but has not ratified it. There is a contradiction between the Friendship Treaty, which is part of the Negotiating Framework," adds Siljanovska-Davkova.

Pendarovski says the Bulgarians' inclusion in the Constitution is a requirement that needs to pass in order to resume the negotiations "that are blocked because of VMRO-DPMNE's position".

"I hereby claim this requirement does not destroy Macedonia or Macedonians speaking the Macedonian language. Our Macedonian code is here to stay. From the multitude of Bulgarian demands that directly attacked the Macedonian identity three years ago, we have come to a single requirement of including Bulgarians in the Constitution, and this is a requirement from Europe, since all other demands were rejected," says Pendarovski.

Photo: Screenshot