The actual reason why Macedonia is not being allowed to open EU accession talks are the numerous and credible corruption allegations about the Zaev regime, said VMRO-DPMNE Vice President Aleksandar Nikoloski, who has for years maintained that the accession talks will be delayed for as long as Zaev is in office.

There are numerous reports coming from Brussels, and there is the reform capacity of the Zaev Government, and both point in the same direction. In the first regard, I’m surprised the Government didn’t reach out and tried communicating with me – despite our differences, we all work toward the same goal – and I was prepared to use my contacts to achieve it. But instead all we got was insults and public attacks. Currently the Government refuses a meeting of party leaders to discuss preparing a common position toward Bulgaria. And in the second regard, there is zero capacity for reform in the Government and there is no desire to fight corruption. Zaev thought he can trick his way into accession talks, and will win them as an award or pittance but he hit a brick wall. The Bulgarian blockade is the consequence of three years of backsliding under Zaev. Trust me when I say, there is no European politician who would agree to share the same table with a corrupt person, Nikoloski said during an interview with Mkd.mk.