University professor Anton Pancev emphasized in an interview Alsat M that Bulgaria in no way denies the identity of the Macedonian people, but defends the identity and history of the Bulgarian people. As for territorial claims, Pancev said that Prime Minister Zoran Zaev may not have territorial claims, but it is VMRO-DPMNE that seeks recognition of the Macedonian minority in Bulgaria.

Yes, Prime Minister Zoran Zaev may not be there, but the other main party, VMRO-DPMNE, led by Mr. Mickoski, has categorically said that they will seek recognition of the Macedonian minority in Bulgaria. So, there is a lot of ambiguity among the Macedonian leadership on this issue. Therefore, we talk about the historical facts, it is clear that the idea of Macedonianism was raised since the XIX century by Serbia, by Serbian chauvinist circles, which had a clear national program for Greater Serbia, the eradication of Albanians in Kosovo and Macedonia and the de-Bulgarianization of the Bulgarians in Macedonia. So, there are thousands of documents that prove the success of this Serbian policy in the twentieth century with all the murders, imprisonments of Bulgarians in Macedonia. So, we speak like this with facts, it is well known when the Macedonian language is officially made and actually processed. We must say here that Bulgaria does not deny the identity of these people, they have the right to have languages, histories, figures, personalities and so on. Bulgaria simply protects the identity of Bulgarians and Bulgarian history, Pancev said.