During his remarks with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen today, Zoran Zaev insisted that while he hopes an agreement will be reached with Bulgaria by the end of the year, it will not interfere with the Macedonian national identity. Bulgaria blocks Macedonia from opening EU accession talks as it wants Zaev to deliver a long list of serious concessions that will undermine the national identity and the history of the Macedonians.

We showed readiness for a constructive process that will resolve the bilateral relations with mutual respect and protection of the national dignity. But the identity issues simply can’t be a matter of negotiations. We are fortunate that there are signals coming from Bulgaria that they understand these matters and that they also follow the European values, Zaev said.

The opposition VMRO-DPMNE party responded with a press statement, warning about Zaev’s long track record of making concessions on key Macedonian national issues.

When Zaev says he guarantees that the identity issues are non-negotiable, you can count that he is already negotiating on them, VMRO-DPMNE said in its statement.