VMRO-DPMNE President Hristijan Mickoski reiterated that the party will not allow constitutional change under Bulgarian pressure. The announcement comes as VMRO is under increased pressure from Western countries to accept the Bulgarian demands, while VMRO wants guarantees that there will be no further nationalist demands that will block Macedonia’s EU path.

I ask for a fair chance for my people. This people and Macedonia have done so much and do not deserve this behavior. I want us to be treated fairly, as the Slovenes, Croats, Hungarians, Czechs and Romanians were treated. But we are treated like this because we have politicians who go along the line of least resistance and who do suspicious things because they face credible allegations of crime and corruption, Mickoski said, evoking the founding principles of the EU, whose officials are pressuring Macedonia to agree to the Bulgarian requests.

According to the opposition leader, the position of VMRO is not seen as stuborness from international interlocutors, such as US Senator Chris Murphy and German diplomat Sarazzin, who recently visited the country. “Believe me, so far I have not heard an argument that would persuade me to change my position, whether from the American or the German administration. If it is a problem that I defend my identity and I fight for my people, then I would say that I expect more solidarity from our allies, considering what my people gave away for the sake of the European values over the past three decades”.