Zaev’s Prespa Treaty with Greece and the redefining of the Macedonian national identity contained in it opened the door for Bulgarian politicians to condition Macedonia, said VMRO-DPMNE official Ilija Dimovski in an interview this evening.

Dimovski, who is a well informed participant in the disputes over the Macedonian national identity, pointed to the admission from Zaev that former Bulgarian Prime Minister Borisov was himself involved in the preparation of the Prespa Treaty.

This was a shocking admission. The Prespa Treaty redefines the Macedonian national identity and bans us from evoking the Macedonian timeless civilizational heritage. There is no similar treaty in Europe that would have two countries define what it means when I say that I feel as a Macedonian, what is the meaning of the word on the different sides of the border. Now Bulgaria wants a similar redefining of the Macedonian identity. The ultimate goal of both Bulgaria and Greece is to downgrade the Macedonian national, ethnic and linguistic identity. These two countries may recognize a Macedonian nation in the political sense, but not in the culturological definition of a separate nation, Dimovski added.

He warned that Macedonia will not get Bulgaria to withdraw from the dispute, not without making enormously damaging concessions with the Macedonian identity that would be even more intrusive then those provided in the Prespa Treaty. As a consequence, Dimovski sees Macedonia further away from the EU then it was four years ago, before the signing of the Zaev – Borisov treaty.