It is no secret that Bulgaria, through attempts to change the history and origin of the Macedonian language and nation, in the past, now and in the future, will try to create a second Bulgarian state in the Balkans from Macedonia, Nikola Gruevski wrote in a post on Facebook.

It is not a problem for the citizens to be called Macedonians in the future and the language Macedonian, if it is accepted that until August 2, 1944 the Macedonians were Bulgarians who spoke the Bulgarian language, their history was Bulgarian and if it is accepted that after that with political intervention, persecution and torture in SFRY, the nation was renamed from Bulgarians to Macedonians and the language and history from Bulgarian to Macedonian. A Macedonian minority in Bulgaria cannot be accepted because it would contradict this goal. A Bulgarian minority in Macedonia was not sought by Bulgaria as a constitutional category in the past, but now the plans have changed, because it is obviously believed that the constitutional presence would help in an easier and faster change towards the desired, especially if there is control over history textbooks in schools and at the universities, the books of the Macedonian scientists and historians that will be written in the future, the documentaries and feature films and series that would be filmed, as well as the daily writing of the Macedonian media controlled through the form called “hate speech” for what will not be felt that it is in the service of the outlined cause, and all of this is put together and formally under control through the process of Macedonia’s accession to the EU. The goals are long-term, as will be the process of joining the EU. Whether this will be realized or not, will largely depend on the Macedonian people, but also on the political elites in Macedonia and their unity on national issues, the policies they will lead, their independence in implementing policies, their readiness for risks and pressures, their skill of diplomacy and international partnerships and alliances. At the moment, with the latest decisions of the Government and the Parliament, very solid preconditions have been created for the realization of that plan in Bulgaria, but again, it will mostly depend on the people and the politicians. In the past, until May 2017, the “Friendship Agreement” could not be agreed upon and signed precisely because of the Macedonian government’s attempts to eliminate such preconditions in the text of that agreement, which is the basis for the documents agreed and accepted during this month. The thesis that no one has managed to assimilate the Macedonian people so far, and will not be able to from now on, is not correct. Those who know at least a little history know that over the last 100-150 years millions of Macedonians have been assimilated by Bulgaria, Greece, Serbia, the Ottoman Empire, and some of them around the world (of course not all) as Macedonian emigration. These are natural and political processes that happen everywhere, and this, as far as the assimilation of Macedonians is concerned, is historically confirmed and known by everyone who has read at least three books on the history of the Macedonian people. It is true that even without the documents and decisions from the month of July, Bulgaria as a member state of the EU could have halted the accession of Macedonia to the EU in order to achieve these goals. But it would have clashed with many countries inside the EU because it would have done it without a basis, and they would have been able to react on a principled basis. Now, a basis has been created, and the pressure on Bulgaria from other EU member states and from the US, in favor of Macedonia, would be much more difficult and with fewer arguments. It is true that no country has lost its identity in the process of joining the EU. But it is also true that so far no country has been given such conditions as they are now giving to Macedonia through the accepted documents this month. EU membership should remain the focus of every government of Macedonia now and in the future, but with the latest decisions of the government, preconditions have been created for huge other risks of national character, which will require much more effort and vigilance in the future and which may be the basis for new roadblocks on the way to EU membership. We cannot blame the EU or France for the proposal, because it was the government, through its representatives, that several months ago officially asked the EU to take over the resolution of the problem, i.e. the dispute between its member country – Bulgaria and Macedonia as a candidate country for membership. And here the EU agreed, upon request and in negotiations and dialogue with the Macedonian government, it made a proposal. Of course, the people in power knew that when the EU solves a problem between its member state and a non-EU member state, the mechanisms in the EU are such that the member state cannot be expected to be in a less favorable situation with that proposal. No matter how much it was a pleasure to listen in June and July of this year to the “symphony” of arguments and criticism addressed to the government by hundreds of my former critics and my political opponents and dissenters, and on the topic of national issues and Bulgaria, and all this in light of recently adopted documents and decisions; as much as their statements and inscriptions looked as if I had written them; as much as it became clear that all those hundreds of analysts, journalists, NGO representatives, colored revolution supporters, reformers, professors, actors, bishops, former Macedonian ambassadors, historians, businessmen, doctors, directors and various other newly nationally awakened “experts” seem to they finally understood what we were defending ourselves from until May 2017 and what we were dealing with when they incorrectly and dishonestly accused us of knowingly blocking Macedonia’s path to the EU, however, this month and the previous one, it was very sad to see the struggle, the efforts, the resistance, the opposition, but also the powerlessness of the deceived Macedonian people towards the intentions and decisions of a government that has lost or renounced the sovereignty of the country and does not even decide independently even about the most important national issues, writes Gruevski.