Prime Minister Zoran Zaev said that Bulgaria violated the treaty he signed with Boyko Borisov in 2017, when it vetoed Macedonia’s EU accession. It’s a second harshly worded comment from Zaev aimed at Bulgaria, after the press release yesterday in which he accused Bulgaria of making an irresponsible strategic mistake with its veto.

This irresponsible mistake is bitter news for our country. We hear major dissappointment voiced by all of us in one breath. Bulgaria placed a veto, and violated the Treaty of friendship and good neighborly relations, and with that it stands in the way of our European integration, after it was found that we meet all necessary conditions by the EU and its member states on several occassions. This is not the European way. Unfortunately, Bulgaria did not muster strength to act in a European manner. Bulgaria made a gesture that is neither friendly or brotherly, Zaev said.

The treaty he signed with Borisov declares that Bulgaria will support Macedonia’s EU accession. It also declares that Macedonia will agree to a committee of historians who will develop a shared reading of history. As the Bulgarian members of the team began to insist more and more that Macedonia accepts their reading of history, up to the point that the Macedonian nation would be declared a very recent historic event, the Macedonian side pushed back, and Bulgaria sees this as violation of the treaty. In the latest round of talks, Bulgaria clearly began to ask for a new reading of the history of the Second World War, which Zaev agreed to in an interview, but then opted not to make a legally binding decision in that regard.

For Macedonia, the Macedonian people and all the citizens of our country, these conditions are not acceptable. That is why we stand firm in the defense of Macedonian national interests. We did not allow that the foundations of the dignity of the Macedonian identity is tampered with. That is the Macedonian nation and the Macedonian language. We did not allow that the anti-fascist identity of our country is questioned. The foundations of our statehood are in the ASNOM assembly and the anti-fascist struggle, Zaev added.

Besides lashing out against Bulgaria, Zaev also used his address today to attack the opposition. He insisted that he did not agree to the Bulgarian terms, as the opposition VMRO-DPMNE party said he will, and also accused the opposition of being happy with the outcome. Zaev said that he will not allow the opposition to prevail over him, accusing VMRO of wanting to push the country into uncertainty and nationalist fervor, even though his address was rife with chest-thumping. 

As for his further steps, Zaev said that now, with his EU integration policy defeated, he will focus on fighting the coronavirus, introducing gas into the country, building the infrastructure links to Bulgaria and Albania and holding the much delayed census.