Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski repeated that the protocols are not part of the Negotiating Framework. In the same statement he acknowledged that Bulgaria claims the opposite - and that it does so on the basis of what was agreed with the previous government.

„We absolutely share the position that the protocols are not part of the Negotiating Framework,” Mickoski said, adding that this has been the government's position from day one. He shifted responsibility onto the previous administration: the former SDSM and DUI government made concessions, and Bulgaria now claims everything was promised in those protocols.

One claim, two documents, not a single shared one

The trouble with a dispute like this is that both sides are right within their own reading. Foreign Minister Timco Mucunski previously confirmed that the protocols contain neither explicit nor implicit provisions on the timing of the constitutional amendments. Former minister Bujar Osmani, for his part, stressed that he has held the same position for four years - the protocols are not part of the framework - and that he was constantly criticised for it.

So government and opposition are saying the same thing. And Sofia is saying something else. This is a dispute in which Macedonian domestic consensus carries no weight, because it is not the thing that opens the next intergovernmental conference.

The door that opened a crack

The second half of the statement is the more interesting one. Mickoski said there would be no constitutional amendments „the Bulgarian way and with bullying”, but added that the government will talk for as long as it takes to find a „sustainable solution” that takes the country to EU membership.

That is not a concession. It is a change of vocabulary. Instead of a flat refusal, the prime minister is now distinguishing between the current form of the amendments and the possibility of a different deal. The phrase „sustainable solution” lets him reject the current model without shutting the door if a new proposal appears from Brussels, Sofia or influential member states.

What the document actually says

The EU Council conclusions from July 2022 are precise: the next intergovernmental conference, which would in practice begin the opening of negotiating chapters, is to be held after Macedonia adopts the constitutional amendments inserting Bulgarians and other communities into the Constitution. No additional political decision by the Union is required for that.

Which means Brussels is currently not offering an official parallel route by which the constitutional amendments could be avoided altogether. The Negotiating Framework, accepted in 2022, remains the basis, and every subsequent step depends on the agreement of the member states.

VMRO-DPMNE's position so far has been that constitutional amendments are possible only with concrete guarantees that inserting Bulgarians will be the last bilateral demand and that no new blockades will follow. That position has not changed.

The key question remains what „sustainable solution” actually means. Constitutional amendments with deferred application? Political guarantees from the European Council? A mechanism to prevent future blockades? For now, none of those options is part of an officially amended European framework. The door is ajar - but so far nobody on the other side has offered anything new.