Osmani: North Macedonia is the most harassed country in the EU enlargement process

SKOPJE – North Macedonia’s Foreign Minister Bujar Osmani said the best guarantee of Macedonian identity is for the country to join the EU after joining NATO. In an interview with the German daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ), Osmani estimated that North Macedonia is the most harassed country in the EU enlargement process.

Asked whether there are guarantees that Bulgaria will not make further demands after the possible adoption of the constitutional amendments, the Foreign Minister replied that no one can know what the next day will bring. Mia reported.

“Unfortunately, we have often been disappointed and the political dynamic in Bulgaria is so precarious that no one knows what the next day will bring. I am quite sure that Bulgaria will continually make new demands, but I believe that the EU agenda is important, nothing else. We reached a compromise with Bulgaria, an action plan on minorities. We want to shift the debate from historical interpretations and questions of identity to human and minority rights, because that is what we excel at. North Macedonia has built a unique model of functional multi-ethnic democracy, despite all the skeptics who thought this was not possible in the Balkans,” Osmani said.

According to him, polls showing that a large majority of citizens are against constitutional changes are misinterpreted.

“Citizens reject the integration of identity and political conflicts into the EU enlargement process, but the constitutional amendments do not pose such a threat, but strengthen and expand multi-ethnic democracy,” concludes Osmani.