I have made a decision based on Article 75 of the Constitution not to sign the Agreement with Greece, President Gjorge Ivanov said in a letter to Parliament, a copy of which was sent to the media today.
He listed five reasons why he would not sign the Agreement and emphasized that his duty as being the President of the Republic of Macedonia is always to be responsible and that he exercises his rights and duties on the basis within the framework of the Constitution, laws and interests of the Republic of Macedonia.
In his explanation of his decision, he says he has no mandate to sign the Decree on the promulgation of the law on ratification of the agreement.
One of the pillars of my manifesto in the election program of 2014 is that “I do not accept a change of the Constitution in order to change the constitutional name. I do not accept ideas or suggestions that would jeopardize the Macedonian national identity, that particularity of the Macedonian nation, the Macedonian language and the Macedonian model of coexistence. “In the presidential elections, 534,910 citizens voted for this election manifesto and elected me as President of the Republic of Macedonia”, Ivanov said.
According to him, the agreement goes beyond the scope of United Nations Security Council Resolutions 817 (1993) and 845 (1993), because they speak of a “difference over the name of the state” and not of “differences” as it stands in the agreement.
Ivanov noted that the agreement has no constitutional grounds and has not been ratified in accordance with the Constitution and that the law on ratification of the agreement is not in accordance with Article 51, Article 118 and Article 119 of the Constitution of the Republic of Macedonia.
