The constitutional amendments remain a condition for the continuation of negotiations with the EU, but they are not an obstacle to the realization of the reform agenda as part of the Growth Plan. For receiving the money from the European Commission. there are no new political conditions and there will not be, because the conditions and dates have already been defined, said the Minister of European Affairs Orhan Murtezani at today's press briefing.

Murtezani presented the plan for the implementation of the Reform Agenda for the country and how the 750 million euros will be spent over a period of three years, which was officially approved by the EC yesterday, but he also spoke about the talks with the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen. in the context of the constitutional amendments.

What encourages the Government to hope for a potential solution to the constitutional amendments, according to Murtezani, is that Von der Leyen did not reject the idea, that is, the proposal for delayed constitutional amendments. Regarding the different interpretations of von der Leyen's change of attitude, the minister said that the answer depends on where we look for the change in rhetoric.

– The requirement to make constitutional changes persists and without it we cannot move forward. There is a change in the non-rejection of our proposal for delayed constitutional changes, which leaves us a space that can lead us to a solution. The activities will be intensified after the elections in Bulgaria - said Murtezani.

There is a rumor in Brussels not to allow bilateralization of the process

The positive thing, according to him, is that there is a hearing in Brussels about the Government's effort not to allow bilateralization of the process after the constitutional amendments and to prevent, once the negotiations are opened, that they last forever. The Macedonian government, as it says, is ready for dialogue, but at the moment there is no communication with Bulgaria.

Murtezani also confirmed that there won't be a letter to Brussels, as announced by Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski, because at the moment it could be counterproductive, after everything they had already told the officials from the Union.

Regarding how the constitutional amendments would be carried out, quickly and without much discussion or going deeper into the highest legal act, Murtezani says that changing the Constitution is in accordance with the prescribed procedures and noted that the duration is not a problem, but they should be certain that such changes serve for EU membership, and not, as he said, for additional depression of society and opening the possibility of obtaining a fourth veto.

Bujar Osmani's proposal is legally impossible

He also commented on the proposal of the former Minister of Foreign Affairs Bujar Osmani for the constitutional amendments and said that it is legally unsustainable. Osmani proposed the adoption of the constitutional amendments now, and if in the next five years Bulgaria continues to prevent the country for things that have nothing to do with the EU, the Parliament has the right to suspend the constitutional amendments.

- I see that the opposition, that is, finally Bujar, after he left the opposition, started to become creative. It is good that he became creative, let them offer an even more creative solution, but their 22-year rule was not followed by creative solutions. I am not a lawyer or a constitutional expert, but at a government session where it was considered, I think that constitutional experts clearly said that such a mechanism cannot be established, which means that it is legally impossible - said Minister Murtezani.

According to him, besides the constitutional ones, the second topic of the talks with Von der Leyen on which a lot of time was spent was Corridor 8.

– As a NATO member country, we should contribute to stability. It is clear to me that some of my colleagues have a different interpretation, but all issues should be resolved as soon as possible and Corridor 8 should be built - Murtezani said at the briefing.

To the journalist's remark that every day we hear statements about the construction of a high-speed railway to Belgrade and the problematization of the construction of Corridor 8 to Bulgaria, and how the agreement with Brussels will be realized, when they sign one thing and do another, Murtezani said that he would personally stick to it. to the formal approach, that is, what we have written that we will do, let's do it, and for all the projects that are discussed outside of the signed ones, he told the ministers to find their own money.

His assessment is that Macedonia will not save anything if the project is revised, because money is provided for the way it is, and if it is cheaper, the country will not save because the money is European.

Murtezani will hand out red cards for not fulfilling the reforms

The Minister of European Integration, Orhan Murtezani, will hand out red, yellow and green cards to his colleagues from the Government, for (non)fulfillment of the Reform Agenda from the Growth Plan with the EU, from which Macedonia, according to the principle of "reforms for money" by 2027, should receive 750 million euros.

As he said himself, he has already taken the cartons to the Government and with that he wanted to encourage the ministers to be efficient in implementing the reforms.

The first part of 52 million for budget support should arrive by the end of the year after the Parliament ratifies the necessary agreements in two weeks at the latest.
In the next three years, Macedonia will have to implement concrete reforms in five areas, adopt 37 reform laws and strategies and implement them through 146 steps.

The first reform projects by the end of the year are in the Ministry of Finance. Just for the reforms that should start with new laws passed by the end of the year, Macedonia will be able to withdraw 17 million euros from the EU in June.

Currently, according to Murtezani, the list of projects from the institutions is more of a wish list and needs to reach a certain level of maturity to be financed by the money from the Growth Plan. However, he did not want to answer which ministries and institutions are the weak link.