On the anniversary of his spectacular referendum defeat, Prime Minister Zoran Zaev posted a a tweet insisting that the vote to rename Macedonia was successful. Macedonians boycotted the referendum held on September 30th 2018, which asked them whether they approve joining EU and NATO under the name Republic of North Macedonia outlined in the Prespa treaty.

Only 36 percent of the voters turned out, far short of the required 50 percent, and even this was accomplished by ballot stuffing in some of the ethnic Albanian districts. Even an unprecedented campaign supported by the likes of Angela Merkel, Theresa May and Jim Mattis, and the total absence of a NO campaign, failed to get Macedonians to support the name change. Yet, Zaev went ahead and used his control over the judiciary to blackmail or bribe nine opposition members of Parliament to force in favor of the name change.

A year ago 610.000 citizens voted YES to accomplish our top strategic goals: EU and NATO membership. It was a strong message, as is the message that now 80 percent of the citizens support the Euro-Atlantic integration. We made brave decisions and the citizens feel their benefits, Zaev tweeted today.