The United States Deputy Assistant Secretary and Special Representative for the Western Balkans, Gabriel Escobar, is set to visit Macedonia on Thursday. Escobar will meet with President Stevo Pendarovski, the President’s Office told MIA. He is also expected to meet with Prime Minister Dimitar Kovachevski, as well as with the leader of VMRO-DPMNE, Hristijan Mickoski.

Escobar’s visit to Skopje comes after the beginning of the parliamentary procedure for the adoption of the constitutional amendments adding the Bulgarians to the Constitution, as a prerequisite for the continuation of Macedonia’s EU accession talks and the holding of the second intergovernmental conference.

The plenary session on the need to amend the Constitution began on August 18. The session’s agenda was adopted with 70 votes “in favor”. After the end of the discussion, Parliament Speaker Talat Xhaferi adjourned the vote until a two-thirds majority was secured.

The adoption of the need to amend the Constitution requires the support of 80 MPs and represents the first in a total of three stages of the constitutional amendment process.