The law implementing the „Skopje - European Capital of Culture 2028” project never made it onto the agenda of parliament's 119th session. Speaker Afrim Gashi simply did not propose it - no explanation, no comment, not one sentence about why.

That was the compromise reached at an emergency coordination meeting with the leaders of the parliamentary groups, after the opposition used procedural objections to block the adoption of the agenda. The law was proposed by the VMRO-DPMNE parliamentary group.

Why the law caused a storm in the first place

The draft law envisages setting up a „European Capital of Culture - Skopje 2028” Foundation whose procurement would be exempt from the Public Procurement Law. That is the key sentence. The project is worth around 21 million euros from the state and local budgets, plus 500,000 euros from European funds.

The State Commission for Prevention of Corruption warned that an abbreviated legislative procedure bypassing systemic laws carries a high corruption risk. The commission was explicit: exemptions from the Public Procurement Law require a clear and detailed justification with effective anti-corruption mechanisms. Neither was offered.

Former culture minister and SDSM MP Bisera Kostadinovska Stojčevska demanded the law be withdrawn, in wording that leaves no room for interpretation: the law is „the legalisation of corruption”.

But the opposition didn't revolt over corruption

Here the story branches. What physically blocked the agenda was not public procurement. DUI, the Albanian League and the Alliance for Albanians objected because the Albanian-language materials lacked the speaker's signature and an archive number.

After the withdrawal, DUI MPs demanded an explanation for why the item was pulled. Talat Xhaferi pointed out that Gashi had broken the rules of procedure - only the sponsor, not the speaker, has the authority to withdraw an item from the agenda. Rina Ajdari insisted on transparency: „You called an emergency coordination. You need to explain why the 'Skopje 2028' item was pulled from the agenda, and be transparent about it.”

Gashi replied that the withdrawal had been agreed at the coordination meeting and that the main problem with the draft law was „procedural”.

Where the law goes now

Under the agreement, the law will be put to a new session after MPs' summer break. Nikola Micevski of VMRO-DPMNE announced the law would be refined, but confirmed the government remains committed to completing the project.

„Refined” is the word worth remembering. The problem with this law was never the signature and the archive number - that was the pretext. The problem is that 21 million euros of public money is meant to be spent outside the Public Procurement Law, and the institution whose job is to flag corruption has already said that is a high risk.

The summer break is a good thing for MPs. The question is whether it is a good thing for the law - or simply the time in which the storm dies down and the text comes back with the same substance and a better procedure.