But Gievski yesterday ruled out any consideration of a federation, which would imply a right for the ethnic-Albanian dominated western part of the country to secede from Macedonia through a public referendum. Gievski said his party also rejects calls for Albanian to be made an official language of Macedonia. But his remarks do shed light on the position of the most senior government officials toward the constitutional demands of Albanians. Government spokesman Antonio Milosovski was asked by Macedonian state television last night to clarify whether the cabinet is considering changes to the constitution. Under Macedonian law, the government can only initiate the procedures for amending Macedonia's Constitution.
Any amendments require the approval of a two-thirds majority of the parliament.
In public remarks this week, Trajkovski has sought to shift the focus of the debate away from the idea of constitutional recognition of two dominant nationalities in Macedonia. Instead, Trajkovski has concentrated on the need to improve individual rights through political and economic reforms. During his recent visits to Macedonia, European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana stressed that the EU will not pressure Skopje into changing the constitution. But Solana, who is working as a mediator to get the political dialogue underway, also said that he thinks there is room for Macedonia to change the constitution. Changing the constitution isn't the only concern of ethnic Albanians.