FYROM PM hints at need for change to constitution

The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia will need to discuss constitutional reform before it starts accession talks with the European Union, FYROM Prime Minister Zoran Zaev has said, without linking the issue to talks with Greece over the country’s official name.

FYROM will “certainly have to raise the issue of the Constitution before accession to the EU, just like all member-states, transferring part of its sovereignty to the Union,” Zaev told state-run news agency MIA on Monday. He suggested that Greece’s concerns over clauses in FYROM’s constitution seen as expressing irredentist aspirations could be addressed. “If additional guarantees are required as security for the Greek citizens then this is something that could be discussed.”

“We are looking at all the possible solutions for a resolution,” Zaev said in regard to talks with Greece to settle a dispute over FYROM’s name. He added that any solution will need to be approved by the two countries’ institutions and, in FYROM’s case, put to a referendum. United Nations-mediated talks between Greece and FYROM have stumbled on Greek demands for an “ergo omnes” name solution – that would be used domestically and internationally – and FYROM’s reluctance to change its constitution. There had been no official response to Zaev’s comments by late last night but Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias said in an interview aired yesterday on Skai that a name solution can only be reached if FYROM changes its constitution.