As the Cabinet of Pendarovski stated, the position of President Pendarovski in regards to the identity and language of the Macedonian people is clear and has not changed, it has neither been negotiated until now, nor will it be negotiated in the future.

Previously, the Government announced that for North Macedonia the proposal presented during the Portuguese Presidency of the European Union is official, and that this proposal enables solutions acceptable for all sides.

This was indicated in the response of the Government to MIA’s question as to whether a new non-paper for resolving the dispute between the two countries is in circulation, which today was published by TV Klan without indicating a specific source, and for which supposedly both Skopje and Sofia are familiar with, but also the more important member states of the Union.

– The Republic of North Macedonia remains committed to the process, with the purpose of overcoming the differences with the Republic of Bulgaria, which would remove the obstacles for the start of the EU accession negotiations. That is in the interest of the citizens of the two countries, and thus of the European agenda as well. We hope that political conditions will be created in Bulgaria as soon as possible for a possibility to open for an intensive dialogue between Skopje and Sofia for resolving the issues that caused blocking of the EU enlargement process, is added in the Government’s response.

The non-paper, which was published today by TV Klan, contains several items as guidelines for resolving the dispute. According to the published document, guarantees for strengthening the current concept of nation-state will be given to the Republic of Bulgaria, hence recognizing the historical concept for the Bulgarian origin of its citizens without exception, and by this Bulgaria, as is stated, will free itself of the trauma that its long-term stability and security will be threatened through the minority rights.

Translation: N. Cvetkovska