Former Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov, who initiated the policy of vetoing Macedonia’s EU accession talks in exchange for concessions, and who now faces a difficult electoral battle, said that he fears the EU will force Bulgaria to give up on some of its demands.

Borisov was talking about a report that French President Emmanuel Macron demands the issue to be settled before the end of the year, so that he won’t have to deal with it during the French Presidency of the European Council that begins in 2022.

EU will humiliate Bulgaria to green-light Macedonia to open its accession talks. The fault for this lies in the failed foreign policy of President Rumen Radev, Borisov said.

Borisov frequently criticizes Radev of mishandling the dispute with Macedonia, and insists that when he was Prime Minister, EU leaders defended Bulgaria’s positions. Bulgaria wants Zoran Zaev to accept a list of demands that would declare that the Macedonians and the Macedonian language originate from Bulgarians, would declare that chunks of Macedonian history is actually Bulgarian and, as a more recent demand, would list the Bulgarians as one of the constituent nations of Macedonia in the Constitution.