Prime Minister Dimitar Kovacevski announced that Northern Macedonia does not accept the French proposal for resolving the Skopje-Sofia issue.

Kovacevski said that in order to start the talks by the end of June, the demands of Northern Macedonia must be met.

"The proposal in this form, as it is at the moment, is unacceptable to me, the President, the Government, the coalition partners and the citizens of the Republic of Northern Macedonia.

"If during the French presidency an understanding of our positions is reached, we are ready to get involved in the talks for the same to start the talks by the end of June," Kovacevski said, among other things.

He added that the proposal will be acceptable only if there are clear wordings on the Macedonian language and identity, while according to him historical issues can not be part of the negotiating framework with the EU.

"We have made known our positions and red lines, in this context I want to say that a proposal that would be acceptable should guarantee the key elements, a clear wording for the Macedonian language in the framework of the talks and a clear protection of identity. Macedonian.

"Historical issues can not be criteria in the framework of the talks," Kovacevski said.

The Prime Minister said that Skopje's demands are for the process of inclusion of Bulgarians, Croats and Montenegrins in the Preamble of the Constitution to take place after the start of negotiations with the EU.

"Talks between Northern Macedonia and the EU should begin before the start of the procedure for constitutional changes for the inclusion of Bulgarians, Montenegrins and Croats in the Preamble of the Constitution.

Strong guarantees from both Bulgaria and the EU that Bulgaria will not condition itself with new requirements beyond what will be agreed in the negotiating framework and the bilateral protocol that has not yet been approved in Bulgaria, and in any case consultations with the institutions of Northern Macedonia are needed. ", Said Kovacevski.