A group of former politicians and activists from Macedonia will join with Bulgarian scholars to form a club that is meant to improve relations between the two countries – badly damaged by the Bulgarian veto of Macedonia’s EU accession talks. On the Macedonian side, the group includes two former Prime Ministers – Vlado Buckovski and Ljubco Georgievski.

We will try to use our civic engagement to fight against hate speech. The Petkov Government in Bulgaria is on glass legs. There is a lot of tension in Sofia, even more than in Skopje. Petkov is running a separate agenda, away from his Government, since the Bulgarian society is still not prepared to lift the blockade, Buckovski said in an interview.

He added that Macedonia will have to seek guarantees that its national identity will be protected in the course of negotiations, in which Bulgaria wants historic concessions before it agrees to allow Macedonia to open its EU accession talks.