Speaking about the dispute with Bulgaria, which blocks Macedonia from opening its EU accession talks, Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski noted that the Prespa Treaty, on the dispute with Greece, contained delayed effect clauses. Mickoski is asking Bulgaria to agree to a similar delayed effect regarding its demands that Macedonia changes its Constitution and includes the Bulgarian minority in it.

The Prespa Treaty was said to be a good treaty. Then why shouldn’t we resolve the dispute with Bulgaria in the same way? The Prespa Treaty provided that the constitutional changes go into effect once Greece ratifies Macedonia’s NATO accession treaty. Why shouldn’t we solve the dispute with Bulgaria in the same way? Our constitutional changes will go into effect once Bulgaria ratifies Macedonia’s EU accession treaty, Mickoski said in his Lazarov podcast interview.

According to Mickoski, the previous Government brought Macedonia into this position regarding Bulgaria because it was trying to sustain itself in power a little longer. “We will fight and we will prevail. We do not enter these talks to be obstinate but we are proposing solutions and we are constructive”, Mickoski added.