Skopje, 3 November 2022 (MIA) - VMRO-DPMNE in the coming days will consult with coalition parties, the leadership and the parliamentary group on whether to attend a leaders' meeting organized by Prime Minister Dimitar Kovachevski for Monday, said leader of the opposition party Hristijan Mickoski, adding that he has not yet received an invitation and doesn't know the plan for the meeting.

According to him, a leaders' meeting should discuss essential matters and real problems that bother the citizens, such as the rise in prices and inflation, and not about constitutional amendments, because VMRO-DPMNE will not change its position on that.

"It is good to discuss the current issues, about what is bothering the citizens - about the lack of money and high prices, inflation, the energy situation, crime and corruption. That is the essence and as politicians we need to find a solution to the problems of the citizens and I am ready to discuss that at any time. Because today no one is talking about the constitutional changes that came to Kovachevski and that small group around him in order to save their political careers for another month," Mickoski said in response to reporters' questions during a visit to Prilep.

He added that if they attend the leaders' meeting, they will not change their position on constitutional amendments and that now it is too late for broad consultations regarding the constitutional amendments.

"Such broad consultations should have been held five or six months ago when he was selling out Macedonia and when he thought he was doing heroic deeds, but in fact he capitulated. Now it is late and if there is no majority for those constitutional amendments, and there won't be, we should talk about a date for early elections," added the VMRO-DPMNE leader.

Mickoski called on Foreign Minister Bujar Osmani to apologize to the Macedonian citizens because after stating that the opening of the club in Blagoevgrad will harm the Macedonians in Bulgaria in the long-term and that it polarizes the Bulgarian public towards them.

"The minister gets his monthly salary from the citizens in Macedonia and should protect their interests, not the interests of the citizens in neighboring Bulgaria. I think that he should behave a little more responsibly towards the feelings of the citizens in Macedonia, above all the Macedonians. Such statements do not go in favor of relaxing an already polarized state. It remains for him to apologize to his fellow Macedonians for the pain he caused them with his ministry and with the way he leads this process with our eastern neighbor. To give support to the Macedonians on that side of the border so that they can culturally organize themselves and exercise their rights in Bulgaria, and not be against them as he does in his statements," Mickoski said. dk/nn/