Ivanov – sign it, don’t play games with the state

President Gjorge Ivanov has before him the ratified agreement with Greece voted in the Parliament of Macedonia. He also read the news that Macedonia is on the agenda to receive an invitation to join NATO at the next NATO meeting. President Ivanov is the Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Macedonia, and he is fully aware of the positions of the ARM and of Macedonia towards NATO and the partnership relations, participation in the NATO missions of the Macedonian soldiers and senior officials, and knows the support that the ARM receives from the Alliance. President Ivanov also knows the importance of the membership in the North Atlantic Alliance and what it means for the stability and security of Macedonia, but also for overcoming the danger of separation of the state. These are just some of the most essential things that should be imperative for to sign the ratified agreement immediately and without further ado.

President Ivanov should be aware of his responsibility if he vetoes the future of Macedonia, especially that even without his signature, the alliance with NATO is a done deal and nothing can hinder it unless in Greece, during the ratification in their parliament, they find a reason not to accept the agreement, even though it was ratified due to the absence of his signature.
Therefore, President, do not think about it any longer – immediately approve the historic agreement, although you have not contributed to its realization in any way. On the contrary, you did everything to disable and harm your homeland from the presidential post, which is unprecedented in the parliamentary history of Macedonia.
For the past two days the president is thinking about one thing, a thing he is not supposed to hesitate a second longer. The Western orientation of Macedonia is in all development documents, parliamentary declarations and agreements and alliances so far. Ivanov inflicts irreparable damage on the reputation of the country, for turning a joyful and historical act into a dilemma, conveying an extremely bad message to the citizens and an epitome of something for which we should all be happy, mostly as a Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces, and as President of the state. He tries to make a great defeat out of a great victory. He publicly demonstrates and proves that all his efforts to support NATO and EU membership were false. He certainly knows, or recently understood, that the Warsaw Pact has not existed for decades, if he thought of joining Macedonia there, so he spent days thinking about what to do next.
With his previous activities, instead of standing first in line and being the biggest supporter of Euro-Atlantic integrations, he became the biggest obstacle to justice and rule of law in Macedonia, incomprehensibly defending the suspected party officials from his party tied in court for committing serious crimes, such as violation of human rights and freedoms, criminal associations, election irregularities, crime and corruption, destruction of state and private property, damage to the budget and many more indictments. Instead of acting decisively and wisely in improving the relations between different ethnic communities in our multiethnic and multicultural society, President Ivanov is determined with his arrogant, unconstitutional and harmful decisions to encourage divisions and provoke hatred among the members of different nationalities living in Macedonia. He vetoed the parliament’s legitimate decision, which was voted for a second time by a majority of lawmakers, and refused to sign it with a manifestation of unbelievable arrogance as if he were an emperor, not a president of a country, with great responsibility and legal obligations for the security and stability of the country. Such a flagrant violation of the Constitution of the first person of the state cannot go unpunished.

Prime Minister Zoran Zaev has publicly stated that if the president blocks the realization of the most important strategic priorities and state commitments, impeachment will follow. But no, it would be a mistake, if the president did this crime, even if he was the Holy President, so that he could postpone Macedonia’s accession to NATO, or God forbid if a NATO membership was hindered, the dismissal from the post should not be followed, but a trial for high treason. So far, there has been no case in the history of all European states that the president should not sign ratification for NATO membership on the country, whose over 70 percent of citizens have decided on this. In the programs of all previous Macedonian governments, all political parties, in the agendas for the work of all the presidents, as well as Ivanov, the commitment to work towards giving Macedonia to become a member of NATO and the EU, the two largest world military , economic and political alliances. Meanwhile, Ivanov is still considering whether to sign a historical document. Such embarrassment.

The president publicly preaches as if he is a small and ambitious party activist, and not the first person of the state, that the agreement with Greece was treason and disaster, that it meant a loss of national identity, loss of language, that it was disfiguring Macedonia, and three hundred other fabrications that are contrary to what was written in the agreement that was greeted by the whole world. From the Vodno residence, he broadcasts a bad climate in the country, encourages the violent protests organized by the VMRO-DPMNE peak.

President, pick up the pen immediately and sign the agreement with both hands. Your tactics for essential state affairs are already causing great political and material damage.

Erol Rizaov