1 Now, what? Prime Minister Mickoski says that he’s facing a dilemma over whether to even send a letter to the EU proposing ways to unblock the negotiation process. He recently visited Berlin, where he met with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, and with a French minister, who conveyed a personal message from Macron, and had even met other European leaders before that, but he now says: “I have a personal dilemma because there I had the opportunity to introduce everyone to the main points of the letter.” And since Ursula von der Leyen is coming to Skopje next week, he’d tell her the same things in person.
Why is he giving up on writing a letter? A letter is a document that leaves a written record, whereas all those conversations in European capitals are like pissing in the wind. As if Mickoski is the only thing those people have on their mind and will actually remember what he said to them. Plus, neither Scholz, Macron’s minister, nor the others with whom our Prime Minister had “quality, fruitful and substantive meetings,” are eternal. They’ll soon be replaced by other politicians. Perhaps the letter proposing to include Bulgarians in our Constitution immediately, but for it to take effect only after Bulgaria approves Macedonia’s EU accession, is aimed more at the municipal committees of VMRO-DPMNE than Brussels.
On one hand, Mickoski tells the domestic public “We won’t lower ourselves,” yet on the other, he lacks the courage to take a sheet of paper and write a single letter. Instead of dropping witty comments like “only the opposition will be disappointed that he’ll be protecting our national interests,” why not invite Venko Filipche and write the letter together? People from VMRO, people from SDSM, and all the rest of us are stuck in this European hole, so how can someone be disappointed while others feel proud? Bulgarians worked their fingers to the bone by writing resolutions about Macedonia, even passing a document in their Assembly declaring that Macedonians and the Macedonian language don’t exist, which they then wave in Brussels, yet we can’t write a single letter to say who we are, what we are, what we want, what we intend to do, and what our concerns about Bulgaria are.
So, Prime Minister, you’re in power, sit down and write the letter. And make sure to certify it in the Assembly before sending it out. There’s nothing more we stand to lose than the time we’ve already lost on our path to the EU.
2 Honestly, I don’t know what Mickoski is basing his optimism on, because while he was sharing details about his trip to Berlin, German Minister of Foreign Affairs Analena Baerbock, during a press conference with Macedonian Minister Timcho Mucunski, stated that as long as decisions in the EU are made unanimously, Macedonia must respect the compromises and include Bulgarians in the Constitution in order to start the EU accession talks. She also said that “until those rule are changed, which I personally advocate, they need to be obeyed.”
So, it is what it is. We’re not talking about 14 verdicts from the Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, which they choose to ignore. We’re talking about the EU negotiating framework, something akin a rock that fell from the universe and will remain unchanged forever. That’s why we’re left with two options: to change the Constitution or to wait for the EU to change its decision-making rules. I just don’t know who’s better off waiting.
In the meantime, Prime Minister Mickoski will be able to expand the list of injustices he speaks about to his foreign interlocutors. We had to change our name, we had to change our flag, we had to change our Constitution multiple times, we had to change our banknotes… And some high-ranking government officials had to change their passports as well. They didn’t find it worthwhile to wait for Europe to change the rules.
3 In Bulgaria, Macedonians can’t register even a citizens’ association, yet back here, a citizens’ association in Tetovo has decided to become the Academy of Sciences and Arts of the Albanians. They’ve figured out how to secure money for projects and trips. The mayors of Tetovo, Gostivar, Zhelino, and Chair announced at a press conference that the academy will be financed from municipal funds until it receives state support. Three members of the association were introduced as future academicians.
In the early 1990s, there was a nightclub in the building across from the Government called “Club Academy.” Countless academicians came out of there, especially in the wee hours of the morning… Ah, the good old days! I, too, made attempts to become an academician. It was an elite place, not everyone could enter the Academy. You had to prove yourself with an accession speech to be let in. Unlike these new academicians from Tetovo, we didn’t ask anyone to cover our rent and travel expenses. We also paid for our own drinks.
If the Municipalities of Tetovo, Gostivar, Zhelino, and Chair believe that with this move they’re addressing a top priority for citizens, especially the Albanian intellectuals – then great. Let them fund it.
4 One way or another, the railway to Bulgaria will be built, but the Prime Minister has already told us that it will cost us more than expected. In an interview with Sitel TV, the mathematician calculated the following: “Currently, the budget for the implementation of that project is 550 million euros, of which 350 million are a loan and 200 millions are a grant. We’ll need to repay the 350 million. Additionally, the contractor has the right seek penalties and claims. My modest engineering experience says that we’ll need at least 200 million more. So, from the initial 350, we’ll be looking at half a billion, money which we will have to pay.”
And my even more modest engineering experience, on the other hand, raises another question: Why would the contractor be paid penalties and “claims”? And how come it’s exactly 200 million euros, and not more or less? These questions stem from our modest engineering experience along the lines of – “Mile, I have an idea!” “Is it too much?” “You’re not deal-oriented at all”, and “a percentage for the ching chongs,” experience we gained from listening to the wiretapped conversations about the Kichevo-Ohrid motorway.
At the end of August, Mickoski claimed that he was offered bribes to ensure the tender for the railway to Bulgaria went through. He didn’t say who attempted to bribe him or the amount, but he said: “We know the channels that make these things happen.”
The Prosecutor’s Office still hasn’t received a report that someone attempted to bribe the Prime Minister. We don’t actually know “how those things happen.” However, at least we now know what the amount is. 200 million euros.
And we know that the Prime Minister considers corruption a natural state.
Translated by Nikola Gjelincheski
