President Stevo Pendarovski speaking about the current issues related to the relations with the Republic of Bulgaria in an interview with Euronews, says that he still struggles to justify why events that took place in the distant past have such a disproportionate effect on the fate of his citizens today.

I cannot explain to the average Macedonian voter or citizen how important it is to join the EU, an organization founded in 1957, and we in the 21th century argue what was the ethnicity Goce Delcev or some other hero-founder, like Tsar Samuel ten centuries ago, says Pendarovski.

According to Pendarovski, while the debate on Macedonian identity continues, which has led Bulgaria to veto its neighbor’s accession to the EU, he still believes that newly elected Prime Ministers Petkov and Kovacevski can resolve the stalemate as “young people coming outside the political mainstream [who] speak a different language.” Pendarovski expresses concern that the role of the EU as a problem solver in the dispute may be under attack.

I can tell you that the decline in Macedonia is bigger than anywhere in any other country in the Western Balkans. If you look at the polls, there is a drop of 20 or 25 percent after we conducted the referendum to change the name, adds Pendarovski.

He reminds that Macedonia has already overcome significant obstacles to show its commitment to join the Union by resolving the name dispute with Greece (Prespa Agreement), and then the issue with Bulgaria came.