Greek and Bulgarian media outlets are launching a joint attack on Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski, with articles that follow identical lines. In Greece, the Ethnos newspaper accuses Mickoski because of his use of the name Macedonia, which the Prime Minister says is his human right.

It is my right to free expression. I will respect the Constitution and the laws where I must, whether I like them or not. While I hold this office, the Constitution and the laws will be respected. But my right to free speech is inalienable. I use the name Macedonia and I will continue to use the name Macedonia, as that is my human right and no-one can take it away from me, Mickoski said during a recent interview, which the Greek media outlets are now sharing and using to attack him. During the interview, the Prime Minister also said that he warned five years ago that the Prespa Treaty is harmful.

Besides Ethnos, outlets such as Protothema, Sky and Mega also quote the same interview and attack Mickoski over his position on the name issue.

Meanwhile in Bulgaria, representatives of this country are reeling after Mickoski ordered the removal of the group of historians appointed by Zaev to the joint historic commission, where they made a number of concessions and easily accepted elements from the Bulgarian historic narrative. Former Bulgarian Ambassador to Macedonia Angel Dimitrov, who is member of this commission and approaches the dispute as a nationalist hardliner, took up Prime Minister Mickoski’s move and accused Macedonia of defying not only Bulgaria but also the European Union. Bulgaria insists that the demands it is setting before Macedonia are actually coming from the EU.

There is political behavior from the new Government that places under question not just our bilateral relations but all the treaties signed between our two countries, and what the EU expects from the candidates, said Dimitrov.

The work of the commission has been blocked for years, as the Bulgarian demands became unpalatable even for SDSM and their handpicked historians.