Prime Minister Zoran Zaev came out in support of the proposal that identity cards begin registering the ethnicity of the citizen. Ethnic Albanian parties have requested this option, and more recently Macedonian parties, such as VMRO-DPMNE, have supported the idea, insisting that it will help shore up the Macedonian national identity which is under tremendous pressure from neighboring countries as result of the treaties Zaev signed with Greece and Bulgaria.

It is not clear how Greece will react to the idea that Macedonia begins issuing official documents that state that its holder has Macedonian national identity. Under the Prespa Treaty, Zaev agreed to a formula that will declare “nationality-Macedonian/citizen of the Republic of North Macedonia” and insisted that this means that Greece agrees that Macedonians have the right to declare their nationality. Greece insists that what it agreed to is much closer to citizenship that to ethnic heritage.

Still, Zaev today said that “he is satisfied that the opposition supports the proposal to include ethnicity in the documents that will be issued in teh future”.