Former Bulgarian intelligence chief Dimo Gjurov warned that the country could face pressure from the US to relent in the historic dispute with Macedonia. According to Gjurov, Bulgaria should be ready for demands from the Biden administration, asking it to explain the policy of blocking Macedonia’s EU accession.

We will need to explain our position clearly, because Americans understand arguments and clear positions. It is up to the Bulgarian diplomacy, General Gjurov said, adding that Biden will also push Bulgaria to stop the transit of Russian gas and to end the Belene nuclear plant project.

Bulgarian politicians, like those in Greece before them, like to paint the dispute with Macedonia as a fight with greater powers, such as Germany or the US. It is already a talking point in the nationalist Bulgarian right, which insists that the country is not standing up only to mere Macedonia, but to greater international power circles who want to harm Bulgarian national interests.