President Stevo Pendarovski is neither optimist, nor pessimist regarding the constitutional amendments. He considers himself as a realist, with an opinion that introduction of another six ethnic communities to the Constitution won’t damage our Macedonian identity. In his interview with the weekly Faktor.mk, President Pendarovski expressed his belief that if the opposition discards its, “nebulous claims that we can join the EU only if we become Bulgarians, then the number of 80 MPs is not unattainable”.

“I know very well what the negotiation framework contains, and what are the two opposing blocks’ positions. We have segments of seven other peoples inscribed into our Constitution for 22 years now, what harm may come to the Macedonian people and identity if we inscribe another six. Regretfully, the opposition decided to care more about its ratings than about the country’s strategic interests, and that is the only reason for the uncertainty whether  the amendments will be adopted or not “, Pendarovski said.

He doesn’t agree with the constatation that the opposition, and some members of the ruling parties, would never accept constitutional amendments under the Bulgarian diktat.

“The opposition made an 180 degrees turn on its own claims during the past few months, and on the leadership meeting they never mentioned the Bulgarian diktat, or that this Parliamentarian Assembly does not have the people’s mandate to make the amendments. At the leadership meeting, they accepted to join the Government with five ministerial positions, and only contested the participation of the largest ethnic Albanian party. If they persist on their latest position, absent of the nebulous claims that nebulous claims that we can join the EU only if we become Bulgarians, then the number of 80 MPs is not unattainable”, Pendarovski thinks.