Skopje: Deputies of the European Front protest in the Parliament against the Government

2024-10-31 19:22:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

Skopje: Deputies of the European Front protest in the Parliament against the

"Yes to Europe, no to Russia", "Without ethnicity, there is no Ohrid Agreement", "Keep your hands away from the Albanian language".

These were the slogans of the deputies of the European Front in the opposition, led by the Democratic Union for Integration (BDI), who announced them on Thursday in front of the floor of the Assembly, where on the agenda were the questions of the deputies of the opposition to the government.

The head of the Parliamentary Group of the European Front, Blerim Bexheti, addressed questions to the Prime Minister of North Macedonia, Hristijan Mickoski, about the deadline for approving constitutional changes, the state's orientation towards the European Union or Russia, as well as the "influence of the Prime Minister" on the Constitutional Court. .

"Once again, Prime Minister, is the Government with Europe or with Russia?", MP Bexheti asked.

Meanwhile, the head of the Government, Hristijan Mickoski, suggested that such questions show the state of the state's current policy, addressing the public as well:

"This can be seen by the entire public, who are the people who ask questions about whether we were with Russia or the European Union. See, from the first to the last, with a dose of respect for the lady. Imagine when these people talk to me whether you are with Russia or the European Union, then you can imagine what state we have come to as a country".

Bexheti called on Mickoski and the parliamentary majority to jointly approve the law on vetting, this law that serves to control public officials, to prove the integrity in fulfilling the duty.

However, Mickoski emphasized that for the DUI "vetting is a show, while behind the curtain is the register from Reçica e Vogël where the decisions come from".

Questions for Prime Minister Mickoski were also raised by the head of the Social Democratic League (LSDM) in the opposition, Venko Filipçe, who accused the Government of not having a plan to unlock the country's European integration.

"From 1991 until now, there has been no government in [North] Macedonia that has not worked for Europe. On the contrary, every government has done it within its capacity and opportunities, and now, when Europe is very close, Mickoski and VMRO-DPMNE should stop the path that many generations before us have been waiting for," said the head of the SDSM- of, Venko Filipçe.

Mickoski responded with counter-accusations, saying that the current situation is the result of the SDSM and DUI governance.

"Be sure that we will reap success and we will be where we belong, in the European Union", said the head of the Macedonian executive.

The new government coalition in North Macedonia consists of VMRO-DPMNE, which came first in the May elections this year, the Albanian coalition VLEN, and the ZNAM party.

The Democratic Union for Integration (BDI) led the European Front pre-election coalition. This coalition managed to get 18 deputies, as many as the SDSM, but failed to become part of the government coalition.

For the Government of North Macedonia, the main condition for the continuation of negotiations with the EU is the amendment of the Constitution for the inclusion of the Bulgarian minority in it. Until now, this process has been bypassed. The government has proposed that even if those changes are made, they should be made with prolonged implementation. This idea has been excluded from the European Union.

The opposition SDSM also criticized the Minister of Energy, Mines and Mineral Resources, Sanja Bozhinovska, who on Thursday during the day told the Bulgarian news agency BGNES that in October 2004 she had declared that she has "Bulgarian consciousness and origin". .

In response, Mickoski said:

"I guarantee you that Sanja Bozhinovska is a greater Macedonian than all of you together."

Meanwhile, from the Ministry of Energy, Mines and Mineral Resources, for the state news agency in North Macedonia, MIA, they said that Minister Bozhinovska only has Macedonian and Czech citizenship, emphasizing that the Bulgarian citizenship was obtained for economic reasons and not for national reasons. .

"The citizenship she possessed in the past was taken for economic reasons, as many citizens of [North] Macedonia have done, and not as some actors want to distort the truth that it is for national reasons," the statement of the Ministry of Energy sent to MIA.

According to this ministry, Bozhinovska has requested to renounce her Bulgarian citizenship on September 14, 2023.

North Macedonia and Bulgaria for a long time have context for language, identity and historical differences./REL