President Stevo Pendarovski is yet to comment on the growing controversy over his foreign policy adviser Denko Maleski, who declared that much of Macedonia’s history was falsified to create a nation separate from the Bulgarian.

Maleski, who was once a die-hard opponent of Macedonia’s independence but from Serbia, or rather Yugoslavia, even as he served as the first Foreign Minister of Macedonia, presented his new line of thinking in an editorial, and quickly followed up with a round of interviews in Bulgaria.

Macedonia’s first Foreign Minister Denko Maleski says the country should review its history in line with the Bulgarian historical narrative

While his presidential bid in 2019 failed, Maleski was promptly appointed as foreign adviser to Pendarovski. The President has now remained silent over whether he agrees or disagrees with his adviser on the key issue of national identity, which Pendarovski claimed is guaranteed by the treaties signed with Bulgaria and Greece.

Faced with Bulgarian demands that are laid as conditions for Macedonia to open EU accession talks, Pendarovski himself made one concession, which was quickly seized by Bulgaria, when he proposed that legendary VMRO leader Goce Delcev is list as a self-described Bulgarian who fought for Macedonia. Pendarovski later tried to walk back this concession, but Bulgaria is holding him to his word.

Caught in the historic dispute over Goce Delcev, President Pendarovski steers clear from his grave