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The government will wait for the elections in Bulgaria to present new proposals for continuing negotiations with the EU

by AI | 09.Oct 2024 | Europe in brief AI

So far we do not have a final proposal, but even if we have one, we will not rush to announce it before the elections in neighboring Bulgaria are completed, because we believe that even if we have the best possible plan, we do not know if it will be accepted by the other side during this period. Therefore, intensive work is being done on finding solutions and I think this is the right approach for the future, said Murtezani.

Flags of North Macedonia, EU and Bulgaria. Photo: MIA

Skopje – The government will wait for the elections in Bulgaria to present new proposals for solutions on how to continue the EU accession negotiations. The Minister for European Affairs and chief negotiator with the EU, Orhan Murtazani, said that Brussels does not look with great optimism at the proposal for constitutional amendments with deferred effect, but does not completely reject it and that internal discussions are already underway in the government to find new solutions on how to continue the negotiations.

– We don’t have a final proposal yet, but even if we have one, we won’t rush to publish it before the elections in neighboring Bulgaria are completed, because we believe that even the best possible plan at this time may not be accepted by the other side. Therefore, intensive work is being done to find solutions and I think that this is the right approach for the future, said Murtazani.

The constitutional amendments are not from Bulgaria, but from the 27 EU member states,

Orhan Murtazani, Minister for European Affairs of North Macedonia and chief negotiator with the EU

Asked if there is any idea without implementing constitutional amendments, he says that “the constitutional amendments are not from Bulgaria, but from the 27 EU member states.” – This is clearly stated in the Council’s conclusions. We are trying to protect the process. On several occasions, the Prime Minister and the government have mentioned that there is no issue with adopting the constitutional amendments. However, we want to be sure that the process will not be subject to further blockades in the future, said Murtazani.

Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski announced from Ohrid over the weekend that through various institutional channels, he will address and work with the European Commission and partners to find a solution that will be dignified and in accordance with national interests. He reiterated on Monday that the government wants to be pro-European and to see the country integrated within the EU framework, but not at any cost, rather on a normal trajectory that would preserve dignity. According to him, for this we have the support of 26 member states, except for our eastern neighbor. 

The opposition is demanding that the government present its plan for the country’s European integration process in a closed parliamentary session.

– The country’s European integration process is blocked by the government. They are obliged to tell the citizens the plan with which they would improve positions in the negotiation process, as they promised during the election period. They claimed they had some plan, some support from certain countries, to improve our conditions in the negotiation process, but so far we have seen nothing of that, said the leader of SDS(M), Venko Filipche. (October 9)