With the majority votes of the ruling parties – The Social Democrats, the Liberals, and the Green Party – The German Bundestag adopted on Thursday the Resolution by which it acknowledges the Macedonian identity, language, and culture, on the country’s path to the European Union.

The Resolution didn’t get the support of the opposition parties, including the former German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservative Christian- Democratic Union/Christian Social Union (CDU/CSU), Deutche Welle reports.

The State Secretary for Europe in the German MoFA, Anna Lirman, presented the resolution to the German MPs.

“By this Resolution we will show our deep respect for the Macedonian identity, language, and culture. The citizens of Macedonia are loosing their fate in the EU perspective. We have to reinstate the trust in the EU and use all options to encourage our partners in Macedonia”, Liman said.

Two MPs off the opposition sororal parties CDU/CSU spoke against the resolution. Christoph Kloss of CDU criticized the ruling majority for singling Macedonia out from the rest of the countries in the region.

“То analyze each country separately is counterintuitive”, Kloss said, reminding that the former German Chancellor Angela Merkel always approached the region as an entity.

The Social Democrat Josip Juratovic and the Liberal Thomas Haker responded that each country has been always assessed separately, not in groups.

“The EU negotiations are a regatta, where individual capacities are judged, and the first one can’t wait for the last one. Macedonia is a candidate since 2005 and it is time”, Juratovic said, asking CDU to help convince its sororal party VMRO-DPMNE to vote for the constitutional amendments. he also asked the German Government to strive for abolition of the consensus rule and its replacement with a qualified majority, because, “the populists are abusing that rule”.

The far-right party AFD reiterated the party’s position, also stipulated in a separate resolution, that the countries  of West Balkan do not belong in the EU.

“You want Macedonia in EU? It is a corrupted and instable country. The average welfare aid in the country is €50 per month. Imagine what will happen if we give this country of two million people access to our welfare systems”, he added.