Deputy Prime Minister Bujar Osmani, who is tasked with EU accession talks, acknowledged that the draft negotiating framework can be altered and that it can be changed as EU member states review it.
This statement comes after SDSM leader Zoran Zaev triumphantly declared that with the framework, the EU has acknowledged the existence of the Macedonian language. According to leaks in pro-SDSM news outlets, the framework uses the term “Macedonian” for the language, without qualifiers. This is likely to meet resistance from Bulgaria, which insists that the Macedonian language is a western dialect of the Bulgarian and opposes having it established as an official EU language.
This is a draft version and it will serve as a basis on which the EU member states can present their national positions. Afterwards, the framework will be adopted by consensus and a final EU position will be reached which will allow to hold the formal start of the accession talks, Osmani said. He added that the treaties Zaev signed with Greece and Bulgaria are also named in the framework. Both countries are allowed to exact additional concessions from Macedonia, on our national identity issues, during the process of accession.
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