Skopje 17 February 2025 (MIA) - The deferred effect of the constitutional amendments is a rational argument that could encourage Macedonia to integrate, Bulgaria to remove its blockade, while the European Union manages the process to the final goal, VMRO-DPMNE MP and Deputy Speaker of Parliament Antonio Miloshoski said Monday.

Miloshoski said the citizens’ “resistance” to the constitutional amendments as well as the emergence of euroskepticism are a result of EU’s lack of predictability and strategy for enlargement.

“Macedonia carried out constitutional amendments on several occasions in the past, with the EU promising the amendments would bring Macedonia closer to membership negotiations or membership, but evidently it failed to fulfill its promises, and it would be naive for us to adopt the constitutional amendments only to have another unfulfilled promise happen,” Miloshoski said.

The MP assessed Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski’s request for guarantees from Washington, Brussels and Sofia as a “rational position for Macedonia”, stressing that finishing the negotiations is just as important as beginning them.

“It would be rational to manage the obligation accepted by the previous government, if it can be managed, through predictability on the path to the final goal – the European integrations. Because, as we can see, there is a really justified disappointment in Macedonia in terms of the European Union’s attitude. We adopted constitutional amendments once for the name, with the EU member states promising Macedonia would open the gates to the European Union, only for the country to be blocked by France the following year, and a year later by Bulgaria. I believe that these bad experiences are sufficiently strong arguments for Macedonia to rightly request a certain amount of predictability on the path to the European Union. Because we can see the EU isn’t speaking with one voice on this, it lacks a serious vision for the Western Balkans and the duration of the accession and enlargement with these countries,” Miloshoski said.

Miloshoski reiterated the EU’s lack of “a serious vision for enlargement” over the past ten years in response to EU Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos’ statement that the enlargement process must be strengthened.

“I can see that this has become a phrase that is often repeated, while we don’t have serious geopolitical decisions that would mean enlargement of the EU with the Western Balkan countries. If you listen to her statement carefully, you can note she said one, two or three countries could finish negotiations, but she didn’t mention that these countries could become full-fledged members of the European Union, which indicates that even within the EU itself there is a lack of a consensus on if, when and to what level the next enlargement will happen, and whether we will even have new full-fledged member states with their own commissioner, their own MEPs and their own right to veto,” Miloshoski said.

Regarding Prime Minister Mickoski’s visit to the US, Miloshoski said he expects the Prime Minister to have opportunities for contacts during the visit, as part of which he will attend the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC).

“I hope he will use this for certain contacts too, and we believe it is in the interest of the United States as well, a country that we have a strategic partnership with, to encourage the European Union that EU enlargement can make the EU a more relevant player in European developments but also on a global level,” Miloshoski said.

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