The Macedonian Foreign Affairs Ministry issued a brief comment regarding the visit of former Prime Minister Vlado Buckovski to Bulgaria. Buckovski went there as envoy of Prime Minister Zoran Zaev, in a second trip since Bulgaria vetoed the opening of EU accession talks with Macedonia.

Macedonia remains of the position that we need to make use of all possibilities to reach an appropriate, mutual solution to the bilateral differences on various issues with Bulgaria, and to restore the trust in the efficacy and success of the 2017 Friendship Treaty, the Foreign Ministry said, after initially refusing to inform the public about Buckovski’s mission and about Bulgaria’s demands.

Bulgarian media, on the other hand, are revealing more details. BGNES reports that Bulgaria submitted an “action plan” and wants to hve it approved at a forthcoming meeting of officials from the two Governments. The plan is meant to guide the implementation of the 2017 Friendship Treaty arranged by Zoran Zaev and Boyko Borisov. Bulgaria blames Macedonia of failing to implement this treaty which it wants to use to rewrite Macedonian history, redefine Macedonian national identity and influence the public narrative in Macedonia.

Bulgaria proposed an action plan for cooperation with Macedonia, to implement the Friendship Treaty. This document will reflect on all Government departments and is expected to be signed at the forthcoming meeting of the joint inter-governmental commission, BGNES said.

During his first visit to Bulgaria, in December, Buckovski offered a far more modest declaration from Macedonia, that our country doesn’t have territorial or minority claims toward Bulgaria. But Bulgarian authorities are moving in a different direction and demand a legally binding mechanism to implement the 2017 treaty in full.