Constitutional Changes Under Pressure of Military Aggression
by Ljubco Georgievski,
Prime Minister of Macedonia
Excerpts of Statement to Parliament
September 3, 2001

Changes to the Constitution

I have never thought the Macedonian Constitution is the reason for the six-month crisis in the country. Therefore, I do not think that adding 35 amendments to the Constitution will bring peace in Macedonia.

Terrorist Demands

Firstly, we have violated one of the most significant standards of the international community, and given a great reward to all of the terrorists in the world, that we as Macedonia and the international community are considering making terrorism into a profitable business. The lessons we have learned over the past decades, that terrorism may not be rewarded by meeting the terrorists' political goals, are not being applied to Macedonia. Unfortunately, we must confess that we accept giving terrorists such a reward.

Secondly, we are meeting to change the Constitution when part of Macedonia's territory is occupied. That is a fact that must be considered when we discuss the successful overcoming of this crisis.

The third issue is that we must admit that from this moment on we shall talk about the Prizren document. The only difference between the Framework Agreement and the Prizren document is the reference to military service, i.e. the Prizren document says that soldiers may serve their term at home – in their native cities.

Kosovo Immigration Scandal

SDSM is accusing VMRO-DPMNE of having made a mistake or even of having commited treason by passing the laws on amnesty and higher education, giving in to some individual demands, even for the Kosovo crisis, while VMRO-DPMNE blames SDSM for granting 150,000 certificates of citizenship to Albanians in 1994-1995, including to Mr. Basilj Bajrami, who was not entitled to Macedonian citizenship, since he was wanted for murder by the Beglian government. VMRO-DPMNE blames SDSM for granting Macedonian passports to politicians from Kosovo.... I will mention only one case, that of Mr. Veton Suroi, who received a Macedonian passport in 1994-1995, and who is the main link today among the Macedonian politicians, Albanian terrorists and international monitors – and is the major eminence gris of everything that has been happening in Macedonia.

Kosovo Albanians

I will not talk about all battles. I will just mention the first one in Tanusevci, which was a direct attack from Kosovo, and the last one in Radusa, also a border region, which was shelled from Kosovo. So, we must say loud and clear that Macedonia has been imposed upon by military aggression for the last six months, despite the fact that many local Albanians joined the groups of aggressors. But some Albanians from Macedonia also went to Kosovo first, becoming official members of the Kosovo Protection Corps, and then returning to Macedonia after three months. So, now we are forced to change the Constitution under the pressure of military aggression.

The U.S.

Besides the list of terrorists who are prohibited to enter into the United States, no other measure against terrorism has been taken. On the other hand, the pressure upon Macedonia is more than evident.

NATO

I do not think that those who will vote against the constitutional changes should be considered guilty for the Macedonian Constitution. However, I call on the parliamentarians to vote for the changes for a very simple reason.

...It is said that the choir of international and domestic experts will sing the same song, forgetting Ali Ahmeti and his bloodthirsty people, and seeking the guilty party among the Macedonian people.

You have witnessed NATO's credibility when it entered into Macedonia, despite the differences on whether it is necessary to spend DM one billion for this operation that will collect weaponry, worth DM two million, and whether it requires 5,000 soldiers to collect 3,300 pieces of weaponry. It is obvious that we should not "gamble" with NATO's authority and if the alliance takes part in this game, we should accept it and express our trust

Those in parliament who refuse to vote for the changes will be declared guilty of causing the war. I will rephrase the question: what if all amendments are adopted and terrorism does not stop in Macedonia, as well as violent acts against our civilians? What if the displaced persons cannot return to their homes even after a year? Along with everything, that would mean a continuation of the war for territory – the war began that way and, unfortunately, will most probably end like that.

Unfortunately, voting for this initiative we have to be aware that Macedonia is "collateral damage" of [the NATO intervention in Kosovo] and we cannot expect those who made that mistake in 1999, to admit it today. Unfortunately, these are the conditions under which we must commence with this initiative.