Macedonia adopts two controversial amendments to the constitution

Macedonian Parliament Wednesday adopted two controversial amendments to the constitution, authorizing the opening of an "international financial zone" and defining marriage in heterosexual terms, according to Balkan Investigative Reporting Network (BIRN).

The two government-proposed amendments have received criticism from international human rights activists and the European Commission for Democracy through Law, known as the Venice Commission.

Justice Minister Adnan Jashari told the parliamentary session that the opinion on the first amendment from the Venice Commission was taken into consideration and its remarks included in the drafts.

Tito Belicanec, a former member of the Commission and now a professor at a law faculty in Skopje, welcomed the move, saying, "The main threat about the financial zones, for example, was that they could allow the formation of a 'state within a state'. But now that won't be allowed."

"The new law on international financial zones must abide by other Macedonian laws, especially the law on money laundering, which was not the case with the previous version," he explained.

The amendment concerning marriage rights has been criticized by the rights organization Amnesty International, which said it would further entrench discrimination.

It "effectively bans same-sex marriage, discriminating against same-sex couples," Amnesty said on Tuesday.

The amendment "is another addition to discrimination, violence and intolerance on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity in Macedonia", Amnesty's Deputy Director for Europe, Gauri van Gulik, said in a public statement. Endi