VMRO-DPMNE in the coming days in Parliament will propose a draft resolution that defines the Macedonian state positions on European integration, but also positions regarding any denial of the Macedonian linguistic, cultural or national identity, because it is contrary to European values.

The ignorance and irresponsibility of the Government has created a new dispute and problem in the last 3 years. Day by day this dispute is deepening, and the Government trades daily with the identities, historical periods, Macedonian heroes, the Macedonian language.

The Bulgarian positions are contained in the Bulgarian declaration voted in the Bulgarian Parliament. But what are the positions and red lines of Macedonia?

The resolution will be binding and would guide the Government in what it can and what it can not talk about. The resolution follows the publicly declared positions of the Macedonian Academy of Arts and Sciences, the Ss. Cyril and Methodius University and the Macedonian Orthodox Church – this document is not authored by VMRO-DPMNE but is defined by the top scientific authorities in the state.

The resolution calls for the following:

– That the negotiations are led on a basis of equality and on principles, with due respect for international law, without conditioning between the sides, and with full respect of the dignity of the Macedonian nation;

– That the negotiations fully respect the findings of the Macedonian scientists regarding the autochthonous character of the Macedonian nation and its historic, linguistic, cultural and religious continuity;

According to the resolution, there should be full respect for the findings, established facts, accepted theories and empirical studies by contemporary international Slavicists, linguists, historians and experts in international law, who indicate that:

– The Macedonian language and its dialects have continuity in this space and in time;

– The Macedonian identity derives its legitimacy fro centuries of traditions, customs, collective memory, mentality, language, articulated consciousness about its ethnic and cultural uniqueness, collective integrity, respect for traditional religious institutions, and the narrative of belonging to a certain geographic and historic space;

– That the shared areas of memory between the Balkan and Mediterranean nations are approached inclusively, and not with exclusive claims of history and tradition, and that they continue to be approached with full intellectual liberty, and not from a position of historic stereotypes and illusions of cultural and historic hegemony;

The resolution calls for continuing the EU accession process:

– In the spirit of mutual respect and valuing the efforts our side has put in meeting the required criteria;

– Relying on the positive and generally accepted international conventions and declarations of the United Nations that protect the right to self-determination and human rights and liberties;

– With full respect for the freely expressed will of the Macedonian people, and of its ethnic and spiritual uniqueness.