Bulgarian political commentator Ognyan Minchev condemned the move by the country’s Foreign Minister Svetlin Stoev, who asked that Macedonia amends its Constitution and lists the Bulgarian minority in the Preamble, where other minorities are also mentioned.

There is a principle that both sides protect the individual rights of their citizens, to self-identify freely and to freely associate in the realm of the civil society. The Bulgarian state recognizes equal citizens, not “minorities” or “majorities”. It is high time that the Bulgarian institutions, primarily the Foreign Ministry, are led by competent people and to stop making piecemal decisions. The damage that some “patriots” did can’t be restored with new idiotic decisions, Minchev said.

Macedonian Prime Minister Zoran Zaev today asked Bulgaria to show patience, as he can’t amend the Constitution so quickly.

On the other hand Petar Kolev, who leads a small pro-Bulgarian party in Macedonia and self-identifies as a Bulgarian, called for changes to the Constitution, and for a census in which Bulgarians will be allowed to self-identify without pressure.