I thought it would be a sin in the last text about the passing year 2024 to talk about politics again. First, we did it for a whole year and, looking at it, nothing seems to have come of it in our relations with North Macedonia. Things and disputes remain unresolved where the coming and already passing year 2024 found them.
This is what is written for "Trud" Kostadin Filipov.
Secondly, the days between Christmas and the coming New Year have always been a time more for festive reflections than for serious analytical work.
I sinned, not a sin, but I still cannot resist the temptation to add another touch to the political image of the President of the Republic of North Macedonia, Professor Gordana Siljanovska-Davkova. A few days ago she made her first annual address to the parliament in Skopje, which is a tradition in the activities of the country's heads of state. I will not dwell in detail on Siljanovska-Davkova's statement. It was widely covered in the domestic media, especially in those that have a lasting interest in the “Macedonian“ topic. And whoever was interested, must have familiarized himself with it and drawn his own conclusions. However, here are mine.
First, if during the past six months of VMRO-DPMNE's rule and Silyanovska-Davkova's presidency, a partial impression has been created that she and Prime Minister Hristiyan Mickoski have some, sometimes even difficult to distinguish, nuances in political speech and action, it is completely false. The rhetoric of Mickoski and Silyanovska-Davkova, a verbal expression of their positions, is completely covered. Silyanovska-Davkova herself made it clear that she and the team around Mickoski with his ministers are “one whole”. So there should be no illusions that the president will lead some kind of “soft” diplomacy different from that of Mickoski. For example, that he will focus on the development of cultural cooperation as an additional opportunity for developing relations. Or that I will compliment my Bulgarian partner Rumen Radev, that he is the only politician who is in his place in our country.
Secondly, I still cannot understand the self-confidence with which, after only six months in office as President of North Macedonia, without having done any serious work “for five cents”, as they say, Siljanovska-Davkova allows herself to criticize the European Commission and other EU institutions. For years, I have pointed out in my texts that one of the most serious deficits in society and politics near the Vardar is the deficit of democracy. Now, from the rostrum of the parliament in Skopje, Siljanovska-Davkova repeats this observation, only addressing it to the European Union. The ease with which she personally, her “patron” Mickoski and his ministers criticize the practice in the union, to which they supposedly aspire, is, to put it mildly, incomprehensible. Probably incomprehensible to people who do not know the patriotic mentality of the majority of society and the political elite, to the extent that it is such.
Thirdly, the issue of the constitutional changes that the Negotiating Framework requires was offensive to her and to the deputies. North Macedonia had already made as many as 36 amendments to its basic law and any more would have been unacceptable. Yes, in its short new history as an independent and sovereign state, today's North Macedonia has indeed “opened” its constitution eight times in order to make amendments to it. We have already written about this and it became clear that the changes in question were made mainly either under pressure and demand from Greece or the international community, to put it politely, for more collective rights for Albanians in the country within the framework of the Ohrid Peace Treaty of 2001.
Yes, I know that many of the citizens of North Macedonia feel personally offended by the change in the name of their country as a result of the Prespa Treaty, also made with a change in the basic law. Siljanovska-Davkova - also, even threatened not to use the new name of her country. But to manipulate this feeling and transfer it to every subsequent change to the constitution, especially the one that requires the inclusion of Bulgarians in it as part of a state-forming people, seems deeply wrong to me.
Come on, that's enough. We are sending off a year marked by the great political change that occurred among our neighbors after the double parliamentary and presidential elections on May 9. The ruling Social Democrats have kept the tradition that when they lose to VMRO-DPMNE, they do it catastrophically. They currently have only 18 MPs in parliament, which is a record for weak representation in the Assembly. The tradition was also kept in such cases of making a complete change in the party's leadership with promises to restore the trust of SDSM as a major political player in the bipolar model. Dr. Venko Filipce, Minister of Health in Zoran Zaev's governments and his personal friend, was elected leader. This gave the party apparatchiks from Skopje reason to raise exaggerated concerns that with Filipce at the helm of SDSM, the "provincial" was returning to the party. spirit brought there by the former mayor of Strumica Zoran Zaev.
The coalition tradition of governing the country was preserved this year. VMRO-DPMNE, as the largest political force, however, violated one of the unwritten rules of “consensus democracy“, according to which the Macedonian party that won the elections takes the strongest Albanian party as a partner in power. Despite its victory in the inter-Albanian electoral dispute, the Democratic Union for Integration of Ali Ahmeti, which was once born from the political wing of the National Liberation Army, went into opposition. What's more. All the troubles and reasons for the loss of SDSM are now attributed precisely to DUI and its participation in the coalition with the Social Democrats.
However, the rule “mandatory Albanians in power“ was observed. Mickoski chose the VLEN coalition from four Albanian parties, some of which were factions in the DUI, but separated when they smelled the scent of power. Ahmeti and his people are trying to behave as a serious and constructive opposition, but the VMRO-DPMNE propaganda machine rather accuses them of destabilizing the state. Whatever hints there may be of attachment and possibly, God forbid, a return to those times of the armed conflict of 2001, the picture today is very, very different. The old “heroes” are tired, others have already liked being politicians or businessmen, and still others are looking outwards.
As for our bilateral relations, they have not made any progress. The change of power in Skopje has made it concrete, and the lack of intelligence on the Bulgarian side in our behavior continues to exist. The year has raised questions that have found answers. For example, how is it that VMRO-DPMNE, which in the first years of the secession of the Republic of Macedonia from the SFRY was constantly labeled as a “pro-Bulgarian” party, today appears as the most anti-Bulgarian political force near the Vardar? And turns its election rhetoric into a state doctrine.
Otherwise, they are preparing to welcome the new year 2025. As information from tour operators in Skopje and the country indicates, the citizens of North Macedonia preferred to travel for the New Year to Vienna, Budapest, Athens and Belgrade, as well as to the markets in Italy and Germany. From these destinations, one can easily, albeit conditionally, draw a conclusion about the geopolitical orientation of our neighbors, right?
But the question arises: where are we?