site.btaPresident Pendarovski Debunks Opposition VMRO-DPMNE's Claims about Inclusion of Macedonian Ethnic Minority in Bulgaria's Constitution

The inter-ethnic relations and the Euro-Atlantic orientation are the two pillars for North Macedonia and challenging the Ohrid Framework Agreement, which regulates the internal inter-ethnic relations in the country, the Prespa Agreement, which resolved the long-standing dispute between Skopje and Athens over the name of the country [North Macedonia], and the agreement with Bulgaria, without offering a solution for Skopje's future path, is not a wise policy, said North Macedonia's President and candidate for a second term Stevo Pendarovski in a televized interview.

"For all MPs, ministers, members of [the opposition] VMRO-DPMNE the name North Macedonia is unacceptable. In none of their public statements did they mention North Macedonia, which is the constitutional name of our country. But they receive a salary in Parliament and in local government under that name - North Macedonia. If you do not recognise the addition of "North", then you are disputing the Prespa Agreement. Well, what is the alternative then?", Pendarovski told Sitel TV.

Pendarovski clarified his remarks that if VMRO-DPMNE manages to get Bulgaria to change its constitution to include "the Macedonian minority in the country", he will become a member of that party. 

He said he would welcome the inclusion of a Macedonian minority in Bulgaria's Constitution, as called for by VMRO-DPMNE, but he believes this to be highly unlikely, as such a move would require for Bulgaria's Constitution to be changed. 

In his words, the claims of VMRO-DPMNE leader Hristijan Mickoski that the opposition party's presidential candidate Gordana Siljanovska would lead by over 100,000 votes refers to the first round of the presidential elections, but "no one has ever become president in the first round". The condition for a candidate to win in the first round, Pendarovski recalled, is that they receive at least 50% percent plus one vote of all those registered on the electoral list, which translates into some 900,000 votes, which is "absolutely impossible."

In the second round of the presidential elections, which will be produced together with the parliamentary elections on May 8, Pendarovski expects to win with support from all ethnic communities, because "no one can become president if he does not get broad civic support".