Former Foreign Minister Antonio Milososki reports that the Bulgarian request regarding Goce Delcev is that the legendary VMRO leader is declared as an “ethnic Bulgarian who is a Macedonian in the regional sense”. This formulation would have to be used by both countries, Bulgaria reportedly requested.

Macedonia and Bulgaria are locked in a dispute over Delcev’s ethnic heritage, with Bulgaria threatening a veto of the EU accession talks Macedonia hopes to open by the end of the year. Last week, two days of talks between historians nominated by both countries in Skopje failed to lead to an agreement.

Diplomatic sources in the Foreign Ministry say that the latest proposal from Sofia is that Prime Ministers Zaev and Borisov make the following declaration during their meeting on November 11: “Goce Delcev is a Macedonian in the regional sense of the word, but regarding his national and ethnic belonging, Goce Delcev is a Bulgarian who was born in the geographic region of Macedonia”, Milososki said, adding that this formula would be used on many other national liberation figures from our recent history.

VMRO-DPMNE demands a meeting of party leaders and a discussion in the Parliament on the Bulgarian demands, but SDSM has refused to accept this.