Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski addressed the dispute with Bulgaria today, and reiterated that there is a long track record of violating minority rights – but of Macedonians in Bulgaria.

It is not the Government that proves violations of human rights, but the courts. There are 14 verdicts before the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg on violations of rights of the members of the Macedonian community in Bulgaria, and none on citizens of Macedonia who come from the Bulgarian community. So the question is raised – why do we need to make this change?, Mickoski said, speaking about the Bulgarian demand that Macedonia includes the Bulgarian community in its Constitution.

The Prime Minister stands by the statement from Foreign Minister Mucunski that Macedonia is prepared to make this change, but at the end of its EU path, and not right now, when it could lead to additional demands from Bulgaria. “We want to join the EU but 90 percent of the people do not accept this demand, which the previous Government advocated. If we accept it, tomorrow Bulgaria could easily ask us to declare the Ilinden Uprising to have been a Bulgarian uprising, or that Goce Delcev, Damjan Gruev, Hristo Batandziev were Bulgarians, or put another veto against us. We say, enough. No more promises. And if you really believe that there will be no more demands once we do this, go to Bulgaria and ask them to implement a few of the 14 Strasbourg verdicts. How can we trust that there will be no additional vetoes and demands if they can’t be persuaded to implement the court verdicts?”, Mickoski asked.

The Prime Minister said that he had a curteous brief meeting with Bulgarian President Radev at the recent summit in the United Kingdom, and that he has the impression that Bulgaria will have to hold repeat elections, after yet another inconclusive outcome. Regarding Greece, which is also raising the name change dispute again, Mickoski said htat he did not have a chance to discuss the issue with Prime Minister Mitsotakis, and repeated his position that, if Greece believes that Macedonia violates the Prespa Treaty, the right venue to determine this is not Macedonia’s EU accession process, but the International Court of Justice in the Hague.