Regarding the proposed constitutional amendments, professor Vlado Popovski tells Republika that they should remove the portion in the Preamble where we give thanks to all who worked for an independent Macedonia.

The key point in the amendments is to include the Bulgarian nation among the constituent nations of Macedonia, but Popovski notes that Bulgaria and Bulgarians never fought for an independent Macedonia – but for a Macedonia as part of Bulgaria.

It would be a paradox to give thanks to the Bulgarians for the creation of Macedonia. Bulgaria always denied the uniqueness of the Macedonians and insisted that we are Bulgarians. I’m not against including the Bulgarians in the Preamble, but we should remove the part where gratitude is expressed for the creation of the Macedonian state, said Popovski, who is one of the authors of Macedonia’s original Constitution.