VMRO-DPMNE President Hristijan Mickoski said that he is putting an end to any discussion about amending the Constitution under Bulgarian pressure. Mickoski met with Prime Minister Dimitar Kovacevski last week, but the meeting was used by the ruling coalition for a PR campaign, meant to portray Mickoski as weak on the issue.

These past two weeks we witnessed a fierce attack from the Government, a sea of fake news and false labels. The nervousness that was on display clearly showed that DUI and SDS have no plan to protect Macedonia and that they will continue to demand from us to deliver what Bulgaria requires from Macedonia. I gave two proposals, based on our national interests, our identity and language, that also contained guarantess to continue on the path to our European future. Two weeks later, they refuse to declare which of the proposals they will accept. And it is clear that they are rejecting this historic opportunity for the future of Macedonia, Mickoski said during the conference on the 33rd anniversary of the founding of the largest party in Macedonia.

His proposals included voting on constitutional amendments to include the Bulgarian nation in the Preamble of the Constitution, which would only go into effect as Macedonia joins the EU, seeking guarantees from the EU that the Macedonian national identity will not be subverted in the long accession process, and the creation of a broad Government, without DUI in it.

After the failure to reach agreement, Mickoski said that the issue is now closed. “There will be no constitutional amendments under Bulgarian dictate, not now, not in the future”. The Government needs votes from VMRO to adopt the amendments.

The opposition leader said that if the ruling coalition comes to its senses, talk can resume only on the proposals he made.