Foreign Minister Bujar Osmani revealed that Bulgaria offered to lift its veto against Macedonia’s EU accession talks, if Macedonia accepts that the Macedonian language originates from the Bulgarian, and that the Macedonian nation stems from the period of liberation struggle against the Ottoman Empire.

During a briefing with the press, Osmani said that the proposal was made a year ago by Bulgarian Foreign Minister Ekaterina Zaharieva. Both demands were rejected by Macedonia, and the veto remained in place. Bulgaria is eager to use its veto power in the EU to pressure Macedonia into accepting demands that would portray the Macedonian nation as derived from the Bulgarian. Once accepted, these demands will have to be imposed on the Macedonian public and especially the children, through rewriting of Macedonian history books.

The Zaev Government hid these demands from the public, and continued to conduct secret negotiations with Bulgaria, which are still on-going and are actually being intensified after the elections of a new Government there.