Constitutional Amendments

Another key amendment that has also been discused for years is the establishment of a guaranteed annual income and the curbing of special legal protections for MPs such as a much shorter statute of limitations.

Tsipras maintained that the clarifications of certain constitutional amendments passed by Skopje in accord with the agreement put to rest fears that the agreement recognises a “Macedonian ethnicity”.

Defense Minister Krasimir Karakachanov has demanded that Skopje make clear that it has no claims as regards a “Macedonian language” in Bulgaria (Sofia says it is a Bulgarian dialect).

To recall Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa’s famed novel The Leopard, the government is declaring that it will change the Constitution, so as not to change anything.

The ethnic Albanian Besa Movement and the Alliance for Albanians have said that their support for the Prespa Agreement will be contingent upon whether the revised constitution will include a provision that Albanian will be the country’s second official language,

'Since the referendum was consultative, and not mandatory, it is now up to the Members of Parliament, chosen by the people, to make a decision respecting and following the interests of the citizens, the country and their personal duty,' Zaev told Ta Nea in an exclusive interview.