Although the representatives of the Macedonian government are constantly assured that there is progress in the negotiations and relations are improving, today new cold tones arrived from the Bulgarian President Rumen Radev. He said that he expects the Bulgarian government to strictly adhere to the Declaration of the Bulgarian Parliament in the negotiations for resolving open issues with Macedonia, which, as he stressed, should be resolved before the start of negotiations. Otherwise, he said, any concession would trigger a government crisis. Announcing a new blockade on Macedonia, Radev demands that Bulgarians living in the country not be called a minority.
“The foreign policy advisers of the Prime Minister should by no means qualify the Macedonian Bulgarians as a minority. That does not correspond to the reality of our neighbor’s Constitution. “It can create serious problems in our relations and destroy the whole process of European integration of the Republic of North Macedonia,” said Rumen Radev.
VMRO-DPMNE leader Hristijan Mickoski says the opposition does not know what the government is negotiating with Bulgaria.
“If it denies the existence of a special Macedonian history, tradition, customs, compared to the tradition and customs of our eastern neighbor, if it does not reflect the difference of the Macedonian people from the Bulgarian people, the authentic struggle of the Macedonian people for their own state, the future government does not intend to respect it nor does it intend to be part of the textbooks with which children will learn distorted history,” said Hristijan Mickoski.
SDSM has reacted to Mickoski’s statement:
“The state positions regarding the talks with Bulgaria are clear, confirmed by a Resolution in the Macedonian Parliament, therefore Hristijan Mickoski should stop his irresponsible statements to cause damage to the Macedonian position and the state interest,” said the ruling SDSM.
