Taravari: EU negotiations cannot be opened without constitutional changes

Arben Taravari, leader of the Alliance for Albanians, has announced that Albanian political parties in North Macedonia support the constitutional changes, while stressing that it is now the Macedonian side that must secure consensus for this process.

He underlined that the message conveyed by every senior European Union official and by every member state that visits the country is clear: if North Macedonia aims to officially open membership negotiations with the European Union and successfully conclude them, then constitutional changes are essential.

“There is no other alternative for starting negotiations. I fully understand the Prime Minister’s requests for a kind of guarantee, but at the end of the day we must accept that if we aim for EU membership, these changes must be made. I do not see another option. The constitutional changes must be adopted as soon as possible so that negotiations can begin,” Taravari stressed.

According to him, although the request for guarantees is understandable, in practice there is no absolute guarantee.

“If political certainty is being sought, the Albanian parties are ready to support the start of negotiations and, consequently, the constitutional changes as well. I do not know of any Albanian party in North Macedonia that is against this orientation,” wrote the leader of the Alliance for Albanians, Arben Taravari.