The scheduling of the Parliamentary session dedicated to the constitutional amendments increased the pressure on VMRO-DPMNE to accept the amendments. Most exposed are the MPs, but also the leadership of the party.

Previously, at the meetings with all relevant ambassadors, the representatives of the government claimed that they had “secured” VMRO-DPMNE MPs who would vote for the amendments, and the first indicator for their claims should have been the parliamentary session, where these MPs would have been absent. But, their calculations failed, and all 44 VMRO-DPMNE’s MPs voted against it in unison.

As Republika found out, the EU Ambassador to Macedonia, David Geer, was especially angry, because he was adamantly against the beginning of the process until a majority was secured.

that is also why in the following period the pressure will come from the USA, not the EU. The fact that the US deputy-Assistant Secretary of State Gabriel Escobar will visit Skopje on Friday corroborates that claim.

The common denominator in the US and the EU approach is that they have decided to push the constitutional amendments and they don’t care about the manner it is carried out. Their intentions are to force VMRO-DPMNE to enter the process, and only then start looking for solutions to VMRO-DPMNE’s objections, which is, of course, unacceptable for the party.