President Reacts to Comments by Kos, Government Reiterates Stand

On Thursday, during a visit to Montenegro, President Gordana Siljanovska Davkova reacted to the statement made the previous day by the new Enlargement Commissioner, Marta Kos, over North Macedonia and the constitutional changes. As the President said, she has remarks about the Commissioner’s diction regarding the expectations over the matter.

In that regard, Siljanovska Davkova stated that recommending and indicating was one thing, but saying that something had to be done meant a perception by the EU that was too bureaucratic, that is, when Kos had said “nothing more and nothing less”, that had looked like “take it or leave it”.

“That scares me because it sounds like direct interference in internal affairs,” the President noted.

Siljanovska Davkova highlighted that in her country’s search for a win-win situation, “we’re saying, ‘OK, we will do that step too, but with a deferred effect’”.

According to her, if the veto is allowed to persist, even the most successful ones on the path can face it before the end. The same day, in Skopje, Spokesperson Marija Miteva, asked about the Commissioner’s comments, said the Government’s stand on the constitutional changes was clear and that it adhered to it.