Prime Minister Dimitar Kovacevski said in an interview for Kanal 5 TV that a referendum over the French proposal would demote North Macedonia in the process of EU accession talks. “We have clearly determined that we want an independent Macedonian state which is member of NATO and the EU. If you look at the Constitution, that national interest is right there. I do not understand the arguments of the opposition about having a referendum. They claim that the Macedonian language will not be recognised in the EU, or that we will lose our national identity in the process, but we already saw that that is not the case. We need neither referendum nor snap elections, we have enough time for the opposition to get convinced that we are making the right steps towards the EU, and that many more citizens will join us in these processes soon. Each and every MP expressed their free will when voting for the French proposal, so I expect the same to be done with the constitutional changes. It is the duty of each MP, no matter their ethnic, religious or political background, to make decisions in favour of the well-being of all citizens and the state. We’ve shown in the past that we can make bold decisions and that we can achieve great results,” Kovacevski said.