Skopje, 4 November 2025 (MIA) - The meeting in my office focused neither on a ball nor a court, says President Gordana Siljanovska Davkova on the X post of European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen after last month's visit to Skopje.

After the visit, von der Leyen posted “The next and only step before the opening of the negotiations is clear. You need to make the agreed constitutional change. The ball is in your court. The EU is ready”.

"The ball is a prop. Except for artistic gymnastics, no one plays with a ball by himself/herself. It takes two to play with a ball, according to pre-determined rules that cannot change during the game, as was in our case. Now, what if the ball is in offside or there is a foul, what if the goal is empty as was ours, and they put the ball in the net endless times. Second, when people from the outside ask me 'Will you change the Constitution?', I say that such a guarantee cannot be given because I am not a monarch, it's the Parliament's role to vote on this. When you say to me that the Constitution should be revised, then you are saying 'forget about parliamentary democracy'. Another thing that comes to mind is how can the Negotiating Framework and related conclusions include provisions originating from minutes," President Siljanovska Davkova told 360 Degrees.

She confirms of seeking assistance from French President Emmanuel Macron.

"Of course that I would seek assistance because the proposal is 'French'. Find a solution, they say. An outcome must be found, and as you know, the Europeans, especially those in the European Union, can be quite creative when needed," says Siljanovska Davkova.

Asked if something is being done behind the scenes, the President says "there are always some developments".

"Sometimes the movement is slow, because you cannot speak of all the things that are going on if you want to earn credibility. This is a serious matter, a serious obstacle. Believe me, I have spent most of my time in office explaining what our true concerns are all about. In most cases, you will hear 'you adopted this solution by yourselves, the Government, the Parliament and the President supported it, it was embedded in the Negotiating Framework and the conclusions, so why aren't you implementing it now?' It is not quite so. I was a lawmaker and we didn't vote on the Negotiating Framework or the conclusions. We only had a report on the conclusions coming at our desks and that was it. So, this procedure lacked transparency entirely," says Siljanovska Davkova.

On the long-term risk for the country to be left behind in the case of Montenegro and Albania's EU accession, the President refers to the risks of changing the Constitution that might again fail to lead to a breakthrough.

"Of course, we are making the proper analyses. I am incredibly grateful to Slovenia and Croatia, who have initiated a friendship group, the Visegrad Group is another friend, Austria and Italy are friends, so I expect that a Solomonic solution is reached," says Siljanovska Davkova.

Photo: Screenshot