Another constitutional change is expected from North Macedonia for the sake of European integration

Writing for Kosovo Online: Zeljko Sain, Politika's special correspondent from Skopje

North Macedonia on its way to Europe is conditioned by world leaders to change the Constitution twice in order to achieve Euro-Atlantic integration. First, with the Prespa Agreement, it changed the Constitution and the name of the country, after which it became the 30th member of NATO, but European integration slipped out of its hands. As the former Prime Minister of North Macedonia, Zoran Zaev, explained, his people were deceived. Now, another neighbor has vetoed its admission to Europe, so another change to the Constitution is expected from it, otherwise, Macedonians will not become European citizens.

Bulgaria contested the Macedonian identity and language, raising the ramp on North Macedonia's European integration path. At that time, the EU supported the French proposal for the settlement of the bilateral dispute between its member Bulgaria and North Macedonia, which it had promised to accept into its family even earlier. By November, this country must change the Constitution in order to include the Bulgarian people as a constitutive element and continue accession negotiations with the EU.

Of course, this small step required of Macedonia led to a divergence of opinion between the government and the opposition, as well as the Macedonians themselves, who resented the hypocrisy of European leaders. VMRO-DPMNE does not want to support another change to the country's Constitution, and the vote of this largest opposition party is decisive for the change of the Constitution, and thus the continuation of European integration.

In order to find a solution in such a complicated situation in which North Macedonia finds itself, a meeting was held between Dimitar Kovacevski, the leader of the Social Democratic Union of Macedonia and the country's prime minister, and Hristijan Mickoski, the leader of the largest opposition party. However, no concrete step has been taken towards reaching an agreement, since both sides have their demands in a compromise solution. Nevertheless, it inspires hope that space has been left for further negotiations in the interest of Macedonian citizens so that they do not remain in international isolation.

Let's remind you that Kovacevski, coming from a visit to the US, conveyed Blinken's message that Mickoski should not support Kovacevski, but Euro-Atlantic integration. However, judging by the content of the leadership meeting, this diplomatic message was not discussed. Mickoski asked Kovacevski for extraordinary parliamentary elections and the formation of a government of national unity in which there will be no Democratic Union for Integration party. Kovacevski did not accept this request, but the Democratic Union for Integration party, through the statement of the spokesperson Bujar Osmani, pointed out that it was ready for a concession, but that constitutional changes should be made first. Kovacevski also offered Mickoski five ministerial positions in the Government after the opening of the Constitution, but Mickoski did not agree to support the change of the country's Constitution without certain guarantees both domestically and internationally. He asks the European Council for a guarantee that the protocol of accession negotiations will be implemented without any further conditions through constitutional changes.

This political game gathered numerous participants and observers. For the US, all processes in the Western Balkans must be closed as soon as possible, including the Brussels negotiations on the normalization of relations between Belgrade and Pristina, and the European integration processes of North Macedonia. This is also an important issue for both France and Germany because the stage is a battle for the realization of global interests and it is very important to fight for supremacy in the Balkans. The EU and the US are fighting for leadership, which is also very visible when it comes to the Kosovo issue, because the EU no longer conducts any negotiations in the Western Balkans independently but with the presence of the US.