Bulgarian President Rumen Radev said that his country should allow Macedonia to open EU accession talks only after Macedonia acknowledges historic facts – practically, the Bulgarian view of history, and after it “erradicates hate speech against Bulgaria” in a sustainable and irreversible manner.

Radev is from the Socialist Party which is running neck and neck with the conservative GERB party in the run up to the March 2021 elections and could be in a position to set Bulgaria’s policy towards Macedonia soon. Radev warned Prime Minister Boyko Borisov not sign some kind of an empty declaration with Zaev again, “like the 2017 treaty”, without mechanisms for verification. The 2017 treaty is even more intrusive in its scope than the 2018 Prespa treaty Zaev signed with Greece, but has less binding power – Greece demanded constitutional amendments while Bulgaria did not. It is now widely expected that Bulgaria will push Zaev to sign a new, legally binding document that would impose the Bulgarian view of history on Macedonia and a mechanism to penalize individuals who speak ill of Bulgaria.

Radev warned the Borisov Government not to go for a quick solution with Zaev that would be an “immitation of triumph” in the run up to the elections, but to demand irreversible changes in Macedonia.