site.btaBujar Osmani: Constitutional Changes Failed Because of Upcoming Elections

The constitutional changes failed because of the upcoming elections in North Macedonia, Macedonian Foreign Minister Bujar Osmani said. He is the presidential candidate of the ethnic Albanians' Democratic Union for Integration (DSI) party.

The presidential elections in North Macedonia will be held on April 24 and parliamentary elections will be held on May 2, together with the run-offs. 

In an interview for Kanal 5, Osmani reiterated his view that with the Bulgarian parliament's vote on North Macedonia's negotiating framework, the focus of bilateral issues has shifted from history to human rights. In his words, this has happened with "help from the US". According to him, North Macedonia's position has been weakened by the fact that the country's parliament has not adopted the constitutional amendments to include Bulgarians in the basic law.

"I am convinced that we have found the best solution in the negotiating framework, which is in our interest because it focuses on minority rights and not on history", Osmani pointed out. 

Asked about the reaction of Bulgaria's Foreign Ministry, which on Wednesday summoned the Macedonian ambassador "on the occasion of recent public comments by politicians from the neighbouring country and false allegations spread by them regarding Bulgaria", Osmani said Agneza Rusi was summoned "because of the declaration signed in 1999 by the VMRO-DPMNE government (with Prime Minister Ljubco Georgievski) with then Bulgarian Prime Minister Ivan Kostov.

"One article states that (North) Macedonia will not interfere in Bulgaria's internal affairs regarding minority rights. I am not defending Bulgaria's position, I am telling you what the ambassador was told on this issue," Osmani said.  

Osmani said that one of his goals is for the president to be the unifying figure and he is convinced that as such he can reach a consensus among the political parties in the country on North Macedonia's European path, and as deputy president of the DSI he said that the party will not be part of a government without a clear agreement on the continuation of negotiations with the EU, which means changes in the constitution.