VMRO-DPMNE President Hristijan Mickoski denounced the position of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences that the Macedonian language is not a separate, stand along language, and called on the outgoing Prime Minister Zoran Zaev to assume responsibility for undermining Macedonia’s national red lines.

Zaev needs to stop preparing response letters and making statements – he needs to assume responsibility for plunging Macedonian into such a bad position and opening the door to have these types of challenges. The problem is in our Government which is sending out signals that it is not resistant to this type of denials and encroachment. We haven’t experienced this type of explicit, public, direct insults and blackmail aimed at Macedonia since the 1990ies, Mickoski said in response to the move by the Bulgarian Academy.

The Bulgarian leading scientific and political institution announced its position after the Macedonain Academy of Sciences and Arts published a declaration calling the uniqueness of the Macedonian language a well established scientific fact and calling for aditional support to promote it internationally and at home. Since the signing of the 2017 treaty between Zaev and Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov, Bulgaria asked Macedonia to declare national heroes and entire portions of its history as part of the Bulgarian heritage. Zaev insisted that the treaty will improve ties between the two countries, but it announced the start of never ending disputes.

What good did these concessions bring us? Has anybody seen any benefit from it, other than the increased wealth of the richest political family in the Balkans?, Mickoski said, referring to Zaev’s business empire.