Prime Minister Zoran Zaev has maintained his currently defiant posture toward Bulgaria with a visit to Pustec, a majority Macedonian municipality in the south-eastern corner of Albania.

Zaev was there to deliver textbooks for the children of this impoverished rural town and announced donations to build sports facilities. Bulgaria also claims the citizens of Pustec, and is active in offering grants and scholarships if they declare themselves to be Bulgarians.

We do not give up on our Macedonian identity and Bulgaria has no need to initiate new aspirations. We are friendly countries and we need to help each other out so that we and the whole of the Balkans will go forward, Zaev said. He added that the books he brought will help the children there learn Macedonian. “In Macedonia, Albanian children learn in Albanian. And so, in Albania, Macedonian children learn in the Macedonian language”.

Bulgaria is blocking the opening of EU accession talks for Macedonia, insisting, among other things, that Macedonia has territorial and minority claims on Bulgaria. 

We got a big disappointment, much grief from the EU, but both countries need to work to continue on the European path because we have no other alternative. We are friendly countries and I hope we remain as such. We have a joint path toward the EU. Skopje and Tirana deserve the accession talks, Zaev said. Albania is in a de-facto group with Macedonia with regard to the EU integration.