The statement of Portugal’s Secretary of State for European Affairs, Ana Paula Zacarias, about the Macedonian language, if reported accurately, isn’t at all consistent with the Portuguese proposal on finding a solution either by essence or by methodology, the government told MIA.
Such remarks, it noted, doesn’t help at all in the process of building trust and mutual understanding.
“The context and the time is utterly sensitive. We call on officials of the countries involved in the process, who are not completely familiar with the developments in North Macedonia and Bulgaria, to refrain from commenting on processes in connection to our national issues,” said the government.
In a statement issued to MIA, the government said Macedonian language is one of the key identity features of the Macedonian people, internationally recognized and codified language with unique characteristics, affirmed under the Prespa Agreement and inscribed in North Macedonia’s UN identification document.
“Macedonian language is an expression of incontestable right of the Macedonian people to self-determination and dignity,” said the statement.
On Tuesday, Bulgarian media reported that Portugal’s Zacarias had said that the debate between North Macedonia and Bulgaria was ‘very difficult’ with history, cultural identity of the two countries being intertwined and ‘obviously has to do with the North Macedonian language being once part of the Bulgarian language’ and cultural dimension of the two countries.
Following the media reports, Portuguese Ambassador to North Macedonia Maria Virginia Mendes da Silva Pina said Portugal would never jeopardize the process of finding solution to the dispute between Bulgaria and North Macedonia, on the contrary, it was constantly trying to facilitate.
Answering a journalist question, Prime Minister Zoran Zaev said yesterday that the Foreign Ministry would look into the accuracy of Zacarias’s remarks and reiterated that the Portuguese proposal provides good basis for settling differences without taking sides.
