Zaev’s Deputy Prime Minister Nikola Dimitrov said that Macedonia wants to see the dispute with Bulgaria put on the back burner until March, when Bulgarians go to the polls. Dimitrov told the MIA news agency that with the elections there, it is not a productive time to engage Bulgaria in talks.

Let’s take a break from the problem with Bulgaria until their elections, Dimitrov said.

Bulgaria demands a long list of concessions on issues of history and national identity, and while Zaev announced his willingness to accept them all, he withdrew under the pressure from street protests and a split in his SDSM party. Dimitrov told MIA that Macedonia wants to achieve three goals – to open EU accession talks, preserve and promote the Macedonian identity and language, and build good relations with Bulgaria. Bulgaria wants Macedonia to accept that the Macedonian language and identity are recent developments, derived from the Bulgarian.

Some of the Bulgarian political parties may want to use the issue in the campaign. I don’t think that we help ourselves if we enter into that fray. I think it’s time to take a rest from the problem, and, practically, from Bulgaria. I think it’s time that we focus our time and energy, which are not limitless, into cleaning up our own yard. That doesn’t mean we will break off talks with Bulgaria, we have nothing to run away from, our positions are crystal clear. But the focus should be at home, Dimitrov said. He added that Germany, which mediated between the two countries, did what it could but wasn’t successful.