Having settled a long-standing dispute with Greece over the country’s name, Northern Macedonia now faces a new obstacle to membership in the European Union.
“As expected, no steps on northern Macedonia are being taken today in the EU Council out of general questions. But this issue will be raised again at the December meeting”, – reports Radio Liberty spokesman Rikard Jozviak.
As News Front reported earlier, Western countries insisted on renaming Macedonia to draw it into the North Atlantic Alliance. On 30 September 2018, pro-Western forces held the notorious renaming referendum in the country, but citizens boycotted it. The plebiscite was attended by only 36% of the electorate, which invalidated it. However, this did not prevent the authorities from legitimizing the agreement with Greece and amending the constitution to rename Macedonia as North Macedonia.
It is important to note that the Macedonians were promised not only NATO membership but also membership in the European Union in exchange for this. And although European leaders pushed the Macedonians to change the name, they are now blocking the European integration of the republic.
In particular, Bulgaria has announced that it will not support the idea of negotiations with Northern Macedonia, as it has its own claims to the country. These include the national identity and language of the inhabitants of Northern Macedonia, as well as the belonging of national heroes, in particular Gotse Delcheva, who was the leader in the struggle of the Balkan peoples against the Ottoman Empire. In Bulgaria he is considered to be his hero and in Northern Macedonia he is considered to be Macedonian.
Moreover, Sofia demands recognition that “Macedonian identity and language have Bulgarian roots”.