Skopje, 29 May 2025 (MIA) - At a Q&A session of Parliament on Thursday, Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski urged the opposition to join the Government’s lobbying efforts in the European Parliament over the adoption of the Report on the country which recognizes a separate Macedonian identity and language.

The Prime Minister said the Government is working on a strategy to overcome the “challenge” of the constitutional amendments accepted by the previous Government with the “French proposal”.

“As a Government, when you have this in front of you, you sit down and draft a strategy and consider whether we are in this game with the goal of finding ourselves on the starting ground or finishing the race. If you take a statesmanlike and broader view, then you will ask what the citizens and what the country will get from this, considering that the foreign minister of our eastern neighbor [Bulgaria] said this is just the beginning, and not the end of demands, we will see what happens after. When this exists as a fact, then it is logical to create a strategy on how to proceed forward, and as a Government we are creating a strategy on how to proceed,” Mickoski said in answer to a question by SDSM MP Oliver Spasovski about the country’s progress in the Euro-integrations.

The Prime Minister reiterated his call to the opposition to lobby with its affiliated parties in the European Parliament over the Report on the country, which references its unique identity and language.

“The Report, which will be discussed by the MEPs on Wednesday, references the centuries-old Macedonian identity and the unique Macedonian language which are related to the Macedonians and not the territory of the country – this is very important because there are Macedonians all over the world. We will see how the MEPs from Bulgaria act. Based on the reports we have and the submitted amendments I am not optimistic about their pro-European behavior, it is more fitting for the Middle Ages. The Report states that we have a unique Macedonian identity different from theirs, not after 1945 but for centuries before, as well as a Macedonian language, and if this isn’t an issue then the MEPs have a chance to adopt this with a majority, not unanimously. That’s why I ask the opposition, which is a part of certain political families that have seats in the European Parliament, to lobby for its adoption,” Mickoski stressed.

The Prime Minister was adamant the Government would not budge over its position on the constitutional amendments until a Macedonian is named in Bulgaria’s committee on minorities.

“In Bulgaria there is a committee in which there are representatives of the minorities – Roma, Turks, Armenians – do we, the Macedonians, with the 14 judgments at the European Court for Human Rights in Strasbourg, not deserve a place in that committee, while they deserve a place in our Preamble [of the Constitution]? Until I see a Macedonian be a part of the committee, and we should all be working toward this, I won’t move an inch while I am heading this Government,” Mickoski said.

At the session, the Prime Minister also noted that Foreign Minister Timcho Mucunski, who is in the U.S. as part of events marking the anniversary of the Dayton Agreement, would have a bilateral meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

Photo: MIA Archive