Only President Stevo Pendarovski visited the grave of Goce Delcev on the 119th anniversary of his death, fighting the Ottoman forces. Prime Minister Kovacevski was satisfied with just a short social media statement.

The anniversary comes at a time of serious tensions between Macedonia and Bulgaria over the Macedonian history, and Bulgaria demands that Macedonia changes its historic narrative.

He was not just the apostle of the Macedonian revolution, he was a global humanist with high international and cosmopolitan views, Pendarovski said in his brief social media comment.

Kovacevski also tried to paint the Macedonian national liberation fighter as a cosmopolitan figure that belongs to all citizens “regardless of their religious, ethnic or political affiliation”. “Delcev stood for values that unified us around the idea of an independent Macedonian state, that were shared by all progressive forces at the time”, Kovacevski added.