1 The New Year is just around the corner, followed closely by Christmas, and with the holidays comes another round of pardons from President Gordana Siljanovska – Davkova. Let’s hope the list once again includes “people interesting from a negative aspect,” as the president puts it, allowing us to celebrate the holidays in a fun, festive mood.
It really is interesting that during the first round of amnesties, commemorating October 23, the Day of the Macedonian Revolutionary Struggle, one of those pardoned was a member of a drug gang known as “Baron,” convicted for something related to illegal weapons. The member of “Baron” lived in “Idrizovo” prison but also went to work every day. And one day, a week before the president pardoned him, while on his way to or from work, he was passing through Chair and started shooting or something along those lines. It’s not a big deal, it could happen to anyone.
The police still suspect the hardworking prisoner of being involved in the shootout in Chair. A week after the incident, the guy receives good news. The president replaced his prison sentence with a suspended sentence. Then, in the holiday spirit, the prisoner publicly thanked the president on his Instagram profile with the words: “I’m proud you are our First Lady of the Republic.”
However, the members of the Commission that prepared the pardon list for the president, who have her complete trust, didn’t know that the proud member of the drug gang was also accused of another crime – attempted murder. And just when the pardoned prisoner was leaving “Idrizovo” as a free man, the police arrested him. He’s now a detainee and has been transferred to “Shutka.”
And – all of this is true. Undoubtedly, the story is very interesting. From every aspect.
2 It’s also true that the Government has appointed a director of the National Security Agency (NSA) who doesn’t have the highest security clearance for accessing state secrets.
This, too, is interesting. From every aspect.
3 Another thing that’s interesting is the optimism the government is spreading by claiming that the European Union will accept the government’s proposal to include Bulgarians in our Constitution as a condition for starting the accession talks, but with delayed effect – only becoming valid after we become a member of the European Union.
I can’t quite figure out what they’re basing their optimism on. Is it perhaps the fact that the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, neither accepted nor rejected the proposal during her visit to Skopje!? It’s not like she’s the one in the EU who accepts or rejects proposals. Nor can she guarantee that in future Bulgaria won’t abuse their EU membership to impose new vetoes during the negotiations. It’s not up to her to say “Yes” or “No.” 27 member states should say “Yes.”
The President of the European Commission doesn’t care if the negotiation framework, which includes the condition for the inclusion of Bulgarians in our Constitution, was accepted by the SDSM-DUI government or any other government.
Von der Leyen came to Skopje to deliver the message: The enlargement process is open, but the door is closed for you. The Constitutional amendment is an obligation. Whether she described the accepted obligation as something that needs to be worked on, worked through, worked up, or reworked, and how that would be translated into Macedonian, doesn’t change the essence.
It would be best if Prime Minister Mickoski and the rest of the Government coalition stepped out of their comfort zone of denying reality. The sooner, the better. That way, they would help themselves, but also us. We can force ourselves to be optimistic and get lost in the translation, but the constitutional changes must take place. There’s no escaping that.
4 Let’s hope that Prime Minister Mickoski has started to come out of his comfort zone of denying reality now that he proposes the Prespa Agreement as a blueprint for resolving the issue with Bulgaria and unblocking our EU accession process.
The only thing is, I still don’t understand how the same brain can connect “Never North” with “if the Prespa Agreement was a masterpiece of European diplomacy, let’s repeat it to find a solution for the artificial dispute with Bulgaria.” Even if you rationalize it that you’re ironically praising the Prespa Agreement with the word “if.” The fact is that the ironic “if” is followed by “let’s.”
What did Mickoski propose to his interlocutors in Brussels? Was he teasing them with jokes about the Prespa Agreement? Implying, if you think it’s that good, let’s repeat it. I’m using your own weapon against you. If you’re ok with it, here it is. Will he engage in this verbal balancing act in the letter he announced he would send them as a proposal for opening the chapters of the EU accession talks? Perhaps that’s why he hasn’t written it yet.
Northerners, non-Northerners, said ironically, or not ironically, that’s the only proposal we’ve heard from Mickoski. Up to this point, he hasn’t offered a better or even a different proposal.
The sooner he and his supporters snap out of their denial, the easier it will be for both them and us. At the very least, we won’t end up with Greece as a weight around our necks again. Against such a difficult opponent like Bulgaria (let’s not call it an enemy), we need all the allies we can muster within the EU.
5 Last week, my colleagues were in Podgorica, and I’ve just returned from Sarajevo. Telling each other how we spent those few days in the capitals of Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina, we were surprised to find we shared the same impression: “Wow, guys, you have no idea how clean it is! And green.” That’s how far we’ve fallen. When we go somewhere and return home, we’re amazed at how clean it is there. That’s the first thing we mention, as if it’s some sort of miracle.
Every time I go to Sarajevo, I’m overwhelmed by a storm of emotions. A mix that’s difficult to describe, something that at first numbs you with sadness and then lifts your spirit with defiance. You might tell yourself, okay, Podgorica is a small city, it hasn’t faced anything too terrible, it’s easier to manage. But what about Sarajevo, which lived under siege for nearly four years, where over 5,000 civilians were killed by bullets and grenades, and where traces of the 1992-1995 war can still be seen on some of the facades!?
Dear friends, our Skopje looks like it emerged from war yesterday. Not yesterday. More like it’s still at war. The war between the mayor and the citizens.
The people of Skopje shouldn’t think of themselves as some sort of civic elite. They have no right to look down on other towns. The capital they live in already looks worse than an Ottoman settlement from the 19th century.
Translated by Nikola Gjelincheski
