Deputy Prime Minister for EU affairs Nikola Dimitrov, who’s been largely out of public eye after Bulgaria vetoed Macedonia’s EU accession talks, defended his policies in the Parliament today. Dimitrov faces a vote of no confidence initiated by VMRO-DPMNE, as his signature treaties with Greece and Bulgaria endangered Macedonian national identity and greatly elevated tensions between the countries, especially with Bulgaria which now has a long list of new demands from Macedonia.

There is no Government in Europe that would try to stay on after so many scandals. It would have been much more decent if he resigned himself after the failure to open EU accession talks. That is the European way, said VMRO-DPMNE member of Parliament Marija Petrusevska.

Dimitrov insisted that he remains dedicated to the “Macedonian cause” and that his actions helped end the use of the name “Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia of FYROM”. “We are no longer Tungusia (derogatory name for a statelet) and have no more disputes and have a recognized position in the northern part of the region of Macedonia”, Dimitrov said. “FYROM” was used by Greek nationalists as a name for Macedonia and sometimes by international institutions or EU member states, but most of the world recognized Macedonia as the Republic of Macedonia. The 2018 Prespa Treaty signed by Dimitrov and Zaev imposed extensive use of the name “Republic of North Macedonia”, erasing the gains Macedonia made over the decades of the name dispute with Greece in exchange for NATO membership and very a dubious EU prospect.

Ana Laskoska from VMRO-DPMNE reminded Dimitrov that he joined Zaev for a airplane selfie in which the top Government members promised that Macedonia was allowed to open EU accession talks. The picture is now frequently used to mock the foreign policy “success” of the Zaev regime, as almost three years later Macedonia remains nationally humiliated and with no EU accession talks.

VMRO-DPMNE Vice President Aleksandar Nikoloski said that this failure is compounded with the 2017 Zaev – Borisov treaty. “Nikola Dimitrov is the architect of this treaty with Bulgaria, which has many inconsistencies and faults. It gives no guarantees that Bulgaria will honor its part of the treaty. There is no obligation that Bulgaria will support Macedonia’s EU accession. And you need to be a political amateur to accept a committee to decide on the history of your country. The preamble declares the shared history of the two countries and peoples. Nowhere does it say which are these two nations”, Nikoloski said.

VMRO-DPMNE is initiating two sets of votes of no confidence – one against Dimitrov over the Bulgarian veto in the EU, and the other against the two anti-corruption ministers Nikolovski and Maricic, after the dismal Transparency International report which ranked Macedonia 111th in the world in fighting corruption.