Authorities in North Macedonia stated that 47 police officers got injured, two of them in severe conditions, after a group of primarily young people threw metal bars, stones, eggs and Molotov cocktails at the parliament building in the capital on Tuesday night.
Thousands and hundreds of people have protested in Skopje, North Macedonia since the weekend due to a French proposal for a compromise which strives to lift objections by neighbouring Bulgaria to North Macedonia joining the EU.
Police stated that 11 protestors were captured on Tuesday night.
Dimitar Kovacevski, Prime Minister, criticised the attacks on the police, stating violence can’t be justified. Another protest was scheduled to be held on Wednesday evening.
Bulgaria, which has veto powers over new members as an EU member, wants North Macedonia to formally acknowledge a Bulgarian minority in the nation and stop ‘hate speech’ against Bulgaria.
Several in North Macedonia says that approval would sabotage their national identity.
Stevo Pendarovski, president of North Macedonia, and the government-backed the proposed French deal, which called for the nation to believe in its constitution the existence of an ethnic Bulgarian minority.
It would further provide for regular reviews regarding how the bilateral issue is being addressed, which could potentially hinder the future course of North Macedonia toward EU membership.
Bulgaria has already formally acknowledged the French proposal, which now needs the backing of North Macedonia’s parliament. Lawmakers are set to assemble later this week.
The centre-right main opposition party VMRO-DPMNE, several international law experts, as well as civic organisations counter that the French proposal favours Bulgarian demands, which contradict Macedonian views of regional history, identity, language and heritage.
North Macedonia has been a contender for EU membership for 17 years. The nation got a green light in 2022 to start accession talks, but no date for the initiation of the negotiations has been set.
