We do not accept a negotiating framework for EU membership which includes explanations for the Macedonian language, protocols for monitoring the implementation of the Good Neighbor Agreement with Bulgaria and the amendment of the Constitutional Preamble to take place before the opening of negotiations with the Union, said Foreign Minister Bujar Osmani and Deputy Prime Minister for European Affairs Bojan Maricic.

At yesterday's joint briefing, they stressed that the French proposal that was made public was not final, but a working version, and that they now expect to receive a final proposal from Paris on the negotiating framework, after which they will state their position.

During yesterday's briefing in the Macedonian government, the Bulgarian Parliament adopted the proposal of the Democratic Bulgaria Party to lift the veto on Macedonia's negotiations with the EU, for which it set four conditions - effective implementation of the Good Neighbor Agreement and the inclusion of bilateral protocols in the framework. Bulgarians in the Constitution in the provisions that mention other peoples and on an equal footing with those peoples, a guarantee that nothing in the accession process of Macedonia will be interpreted as recognition of the Macedonian language by Bulgaria, and a guarantee from the EU that good neighborliness remains horizontal criterion in the accession process, the fulfillment of which the European Commission will inform the Council of the EU before each intergovernmental conference.

The European future is the most uncertain so far

It follows from the two state positions that the start of Macedonia's EU membership negotiations remains uncertain, as Bulgaria has not given up on bilateral protocols, and demands that Bulgarians be registered as a nation-building nation, and not as part of nations in other countries. which the Macedonian side does not even think to happen.

- France now has official positions for consideration, ours, which the Prime Minister Dimitar Kovacevski expressed on Thursday in Brussels, and the Bulgarian one, which is defined by the vote in their assembly. We will be in communication in the coming days and we will see what Paris will submit as a final proposal. When we receive an official proposal, it will be considered in the Government, and in some form the Parliament and the local Committee on Foreign Affairs will be consulted - said Osmani.

According to the explanations, until June 30, until the end of the French presidency, there is time to schedule the first intergovernmental conference, if a proposal comes from France that is not contrary to the Macedonian red lines. After France, the EU presidency will be taken over by the Czech Republic, but it is not known what their engagement in the Western Balkans will be, so it is likely that they will be focused on Ukraine.

Asked whether if Bulgaria removes the veto with the newly adopted decision in the National Assembly, that country will no longer be considered in the Union as the main brake on enlargement, but now it will be Macedonia, Minister Osmani answered:

- If Bulgaria has the same views, it means that there is no change in positions and we can not be to blame for that. We are for a solution, but within our state positions - said Osmani.

According to him, the only acceptable for Macedonia is a negotiating framework with a pure Macedonian language, without footnotes and additional explanations, the resolution of historical issues with Bulgaria to be outside the framework, and the opening of negotiations not to be conditioned by constitutional changes. Osmani is categorical that they will not accept the protocols, ie. the minutes for monitoring the implementation of the Good Neighbor Agreement should be in the framework, because in that way the historical requirements will be inserted in it, and that will give Bulgaria grounds for new blockades.

The silence was for Petkov

Osmani also explained why the state leadership was silent about the French proposal. At the end of its rotating EU presidency, France realized that it had nothing to deliver externally with enlargement, so it released a working version of the negotiating framework to circulate between member states, in a bid to come up with another constructive proposal. Some of the European partners, added Osmani, estimated that commenting on the working version could affect the political process in Bulgaria, where a vote of confidence in the cabinet of Prime Minister Kiril Petkov was scheduled for Wednesday, so they decided not to comment until then, and already in On Thursday, Prime Minister Kovacevski said in Brussels that such a version of the framework was unacceptable.

Osmani and Maricic also pointed out that government ministers these days were the target of hybrid threats in an attempt to overthrow the Macedonian position on the French proposal and the conclusions of the European Council.

- We had hybrid threats to ministers and political parties trying to overthrow our state strategy and state positions on the dispute with Bulgaria, which can be read in the context of criminal proceedings. Someone was trying to overthrow our position. Those hybrid threats should be investigated, to see if they are part of some scenarios, because it is possible that some of them rushed out of naivety, but some participated consciously and in an organized way - said Osmani.

Deputy Prime Minister Maricic also stressed that RS Macedonia can not give up the European process, but their goal is to get a sustainable package of negotiations that will lead us to membership, and not to permanent blockades.

- We can not give up the European process, but neither the language nor the identity. It is our responsibility to take care of these things and I do not see any room for oversight of this. "There is a greater responsibility of some structures and individuals who tried to disrupt the state strategy by transmitting unverified news to political parties and the media in order to create a different atmosphere," Maricic said.