Former Culture Minister Ganka Samoilovska Cvetanova blasted Zoran Zaev for his statement that Macedonia has been appropriating the history of its neighbors in the past. She especially condemned the comment which Zaev made for the Greek public, and which was received approvingly in all neighboring countries where nationalists deny the uniqueness of the Macedonian nation, given that it is ten days from the Ilinden celebration in Krusevo where Zaev is supposed to be the main speaker.

After he accused Macedonia of stealing history from others, I ask Zoran Zaev, will he have face to show up at Meckin Kamen on the greatest of all Macedonian holidays, on Ilinden, and to tell to the Macedonian people what stolen history is he talking about? Is it the history he sold to others??, Ganka Samoilovska – Cvetanova wrote on her social media account.

Zaev faced withering criticism not only from the right but also from many on his own side of the political divide. News outlets in Bulgaria and Serbia, as well as Greece, carried the report giddily declaring that the Macedonian Prime Minister acknowledged what their propaganda was saying all along – that Macedonians are an artificial nation which has appropriated elements of the histories, and territories, of other nations.