The two key diplomats, Foreign Minister Bujar Osmani and Deputy Prime Minister Nikola Dimitrov, did not show up for the Parliament committee hearing on the developing crisis with Bulgaria. Osmani and Dimitrov have remained silent after their emergency summit in Berlin, where they met with Bulgarian Foreign Minister Ekaterina Zaharieva to see if Bulgaria could be persuaded to allow the opening of EU accession talks for Macedonia.

It is shameful that nobody from the Government is here to address the committee. We must have red lines in our relations with our neighbors. I care for the EU but I care for Macedonia more. The Republic of Macedonia and the Macedonian people will endure and it will be known whose side they were on, said VMRO-DPMNE representative Ivanka Dodovska as the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Macedonian Parliament met today.

There is no clear explanation why Dimitrov and Osmani were absent. It was revealed today that Bulgarian Deputy Foreign minister Petko Dojkov tested positive to the coronavirus, prompting self-isolation protocol for Minister Zaharieva. Dojkov was also present during the talks in Berlin and Bulgaria notified both Macedonia and Germany of the development.

Committee Chairman Antonio Milososki said that he will convene it again, and that he expects Dimitrov and Osmani to show up and explain their actions during the talks with Bulgaria. “We can’t vote to dismiss Zaharieva or Bulgarian Defense Minister Krasimir Karakacanov but we can vote on Osmani and Dimitrov”, Milososki said.

VMRO-DPMNE Vice President Aleksandar Nikoloski also spoke at the Foreign Affairs Committee. He said that Prime Minister Zoran Zaev has shown himself to be the “most anti-Western politician in Macedonia”, as he fails to open the EU accession talks for a third year in a row. Nikoloski even suspected that Zaev is deliberately “playing dumb” to avoid a serious discussion on this burning issue, after Zaev yesterday made a weird gaffe during a TV interview. When asked about the coronavirus regime for operating casinos, Zaev said that casinos will be allowed to work as “food delivery services”, leaving the public puzzled.