Skopje, 26 February 2026 (MIA) — We will not pursue a spineless policy toward the EU, I have told you a hundred times, Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski said in response to SDSM leader and Member of Parliament Venko Filipche during a parliamentary session earlier Thursday.

Mickoski also called Filipche the Macedonian identity's "soft tissue."

"We will not pursue a spineless policy. You are the soft tissue and as long as you give this kind of statements, we will have Bulgarian politicians knowing there is soft tissue in the Macedonian national identity and always trying to play the card of least resistance," the prime minister said. 

"This won't get you anywhere. History will remember you as the man who was the soft tissue and the party that was the soft tissue of the Macedonian national identity. I would advise you against it. You do know what it means for history to remember you. You are from Ohrid. You know who handed over the relics and how they were handed over," Mickoski said.

During the parliamentary session, Filipche asked Mickoski to comment on the lack of progress on the European integration path. "You said loud and clear that the country will not take a step forward," he recalled. mr/