Journalist Branko Geroski, who was formerly a strong supporter of Zoran Zaev’s Colored Revolution, called on Zaev to publicly declare that he will not make concessions to Bulgaria that will undermine the status of the Macedonian nation and language. Geroski warned that, from everything we’ve seen from Zaev and the way he handles negotiations on identity issues with neighboring countries, it is likely that Zaev will do just that, and undermine the critical Macedonian national positions.
In January, Zaev claimed that the adjective “Macedonian” is part of our identity, and there is no limitation to its use. Now, after a warning from Athens over a banal issue, he publicly says that he made a mistake when he used “Macedonian” to refer to our national football team. When did Zaev lie? In January or now?, Geroski reminds the public.
“And now Ali Ahmeti says that he is negotiating with Zaev to change the anthem, the flag and the coat of arms. Zaev denies that he is negotiating with Ahmeti on this issue. He is careful not to deny that he will eventually get to the issue, he just says he is not talking to Ahmeti about it. I don’t think that Ahmeti is lying to us, and i believe that Zaev is really planning to sacrifice the anthem, and also the coat of arms and the flag. Zaev’s Foreign Minister Bujar Osmani says so”, Geroski adds.
And the list of concessions that are put on the table in this period is rounded up by the Bulgarian claims aimed at the Macedonian national identity and history. Leaks from Bulgaria revealed that Zaev was discussing a declaration that the Macedonian language is the same as the Bulgarian, but the two are internationally recognized as separate languages. Zaev himself announced another formula for the national identity – that the Macedonian and the Bulgarian nation are separate, but that “there are people who believe that they are the same“. These could be the concessions Zaev makes to Bulgaria in his desperation to have the Bulgarian veto removed.
Zaev will do anything to appease the “brothers” from Sofia, to gain any kind of concession from them he could portray as “success” at home and cling to power. The greediness of Sofia only shows that Zaev was promising all sorts of things in his phone conversations with Borisov and his other friends from Sofia. There is really no point in analyzing Zaev’s confused mutterings. There are no rules to debating him, he respects no rules. It’s like playing chess with a monkey, if you try it, it will steal your pieces, overturn the board, mock you. None of us stand a chance in this chess game with Zaev. I was close to him, and I would like to publicly warn him, in a friendly manner – don’t you dare do what you are planning to do. If you are planning to do it… Don’t say again that the Macedonain language is the same with the Bulgarian. That is a hideous lie. Don’t touch our anthem, you don’t understand it anyway. Don’t touch the flag and the coat of arms. I know you are not an anti-Macedonian person, and that is your only mitigating factor. But don’t become one. There are ill intentioned people around you. Don’t be like them, Geroski writes to Zaev in his editorial.
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