Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov congratulated to Zoran Zaev on his re-election as Prime Minister and reminded him that the first issue on the table will be to uphold the treaty the two signed in 2017. Implementation of the treaty stalled in the pre-election months, as some deeply unpopular issues, such as having Macedonian historians agree that legendary VMRO leader Goce Delcev was a Bulgarian, were delayed not to harm Zaev’s election chances.

Bulgaria strives for the right of the citizens of the Republic of North Macedonia to be part of the European family. with the signing of the treaty of friendship and good-neighborly cooperation the two countries obliged to work on improving the economic cooperation, education and cultural ties, ties in business and elsewhere. Bulgaria and North Macedonia need to be closest friends and neighbors. In that spirit I hope that the joint multi-disciplinary commission of experts on issues of history and education will resume its activities and that the members from the Republic of North Macedonia will show a constructive attitude and clear dedication to reach agreement on the issues that will be discussed, Borisov said in his statement to Zaev.

The commission stopped working late 2019, as Macedonia was heading toward elections, but also as it became clear that finding a compromise on Goce Delcev will be difficult.