Zoran Zaev will travel to Bulgaria early next year, after he has resigned as Prime Minister, to discuss possible solutions to the dispute on the historic legacy of Goce Delcev.

Zaev met with Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov during their visit to the Harry Truman aircraft carrier yesterday, and said that they agreed to hold an additional meeting in Sofia. Bulgaria demands that Macedonian historians accept that Goce Delcev was an ethnic Bulgarian, and this request has soured relations between the two countries, opening the prospect of a Bulgarian veto to Macedonia’s EU accession talks.

Government sources have briefed that Zaev will travel to Sofia as SDSM party leader and not as Prime Minister, given that he is required to resign on January 3rd, under the 100 days rule. The sources in his Government told the MIA news agency that it is possible the meeting just moves matters forward without finding a solution, given that Macedonia will be in a pre-election period.