During a press briefing, Foreign Minister Bujar Osmani alleged that unnamed people and institutions in Macedonia were making calls to Bulgaria to ask that no agreement is reached between the two countries. According to Osmani, the position was that Macedonia is facing early elections and any agreement the Kovacevski Government reaches would be worthless.

Osmani also alleged that these “people” who “made calls” to Bulgaria were working for Russia. “These are people in institutions who are believed to be one the same line along what Bulgarian Prime Minister Kiril Petkov was mentioning”, Osmani said, refusing to give more specifics.

Petkov yesterday alleged that two officials of the Bulgarian secret service were working for Russia, and were active in preventing a new deal between Macedonia and Bulgaria. Bulgaria makes hefty demands against Macedonia, and claims Macedonian history and national identity as its own. It blocks Macedonia from opening its EU accession talks, and there is now an on-going effort by the Petkov Government to blame Russia for this policy.