Skopje, 13 September 2024 (MIA) - President Gordana Siljanovska Davkova will pay a visit to Sofia and meet with Bulgarian counterpart Rumen Radev on Friday.

President Siljanovska Davkova is set to attend opera "Nabucco" by Giuseppe Verdi, performed by the Macedonian National Opera and Ballet, the President's Office said in a press release.

The Macedonian delegation will include the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Timcho Mucunski, and the Minister of Culture and Tourism, Zoran Ljutkov.

Earlier this year, President Siljanovska Davkova attended the performance of "The Valkyrie" by the Sofia Opera and Ballet during the 52nd May Opera Evenings and highlighted the importance and power of cultural diplomacy as an intrinsic element of international relations.

Answering a reporter's question about what he expected from the upcoming visit of the Macedonian delegation to Sofia led by President Gordana Siljanovska Davkova on Friday, PM Hristijan Mickoski reiterated that the country wanted to build good neighborly relations.

"We will continue building good neighborly relations," the prime minister said. "Our motto is: 'We don't want what doesn't belong to us, and we do not give up on what's ours.' Building good neighborly relations is a European value and we should continue it.

"Kosovo's Prime Minister Albin Kurti was on a working visit here. We are also arranging a visit with Albania's Prime Minister Rama, either in Tirana or in Skopje. We are arranging a visit with Serbia's Prime Minister Vucevic in Skopje. I guess there will be similar visits with Mitsotakis and the Bulgarian Prime Minister. We saw each other at the NATO Summit in the United States. Our goal is to build good neighborly relations and we will continue doing so."

"We will fight for our interests as a country and that's that. This shouldn't come as a surprise," Mickoski said in response to the press after the commissioning of a local sports center in Butel.

We will be positive, and we will work with all our neighbors in the spirit of good will, but our primary goal is to focus on domestic reforms, rule of law, fighting corruption and everything that is necessary if we really want to transform our society from within, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade Timcho Mucunski said at a joint press conference Tuesday with his Italian counterpart Antonio Tajani in Skopje.

Mucunski said solutions can be found to all challenges if there is goodwill among the members of the European Union. Regarding the model of delayed implementation of the constitutional amendments, the FM said he doesn’t believe this requires changes to the negotiating framework and the conclusions of the EU Council.

“I don’t entirely share the position that the model of delayed implementation of the constitutional amendments requires changes in the negotiating framework and the conclusions. That’s a matter of legal interpretation, I am of the position that this can be done without any changes,” Mucunski.

The Government has appointed Faculty of Philosophy professor Vancho Gjorgjiev chair of the Macedonian team within the Joint Multidisciplinary Expert Commission on Historical and Educational Issues with Bulgaria.

The commission also includes Aleksandar Litovski, Mitko Panov and Dimitar Ljorovski from the Institute of National History, Nikola Minov and Sasho Dodevski from the Faculty of Philosophy, and Besnik Emini from the Institute for Spiritual and Cultural Heritage of Albanians.

Professor Gjorgjiev replaces Dragi Gjorgjiev, member of the Macedonian Academy of Sciences and Arts and professor at the Institute of National History.

On Thursday, a group of former members went public with a reaction, urging a change in the work methodology and the involvement of experts from OSCE, UNESCO, or the Council of Europe.

"In the past, the commission was a constant target of politically motivated attacks from numerous media outlets and political parties, and its work was used to achieve political goals. These attacks have continued to this day, and in the past few weeks, we have witnessed unfounded, accusatory, and offensive statements from the Prime Minister regarding the work of the former members of the Commission, through which he divides citizens into ‘defenders’ and ‘non-defenders’ of national interests according to his personal views. Even more concerning is that the Prime Minister deliberately sends an authoritarian and threatening message that anyone who does not meet his expectations and political views will be labeled as not protecting national interests," they say in their reaction.

They also point out that articles have been published in the media attempting to justify the government's political decision with manipulations and falsehoods, claiming that the Commission established two protocols, which were, in fact, adopted by the governments of both countries. Additionally, it is falsely stated that the members of the Commission at the 15th meeting, where no decision was made, supposedly deviated from the Macedonian red lines adopted in Parliament in July 2021.

Two former members of the Macedonian team from the Multidisciplinary Commission of Experts on Historical and Educational Issuescalled for a change in the work methodology and the inclusion of experts from OSCE, UNESCO, or the Council of Europe through an open letter to the public.

The state will launch a probe into where the historical committee's funding ended up, according to Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski commenting on the public letter by former members of the Multidisciplinary Commission of Experts on Historical and Educational Issues between North Macedonia and Bulgaria, in which they complained about the committee's work methodology and said the committee should include OSCE, UNESCO or Council of Europe experts.

PM Mickoski said he welcomed the involvement of outside experts in helping find solutions to open issues.

"Now, whether we should comment any more or pay attention to these political platitudes by the former members of the historical committee – I don't think so.

"Hundreds of thousands of people's money and euros were spent for nothing. For something that resulted in a capitulation accepted by the Kovachevski–Osmani pair. This is more or less what this committee has essentially done and spent several hundred thousand euros of people's money on," Mickoski said.

"That this government, which received its legitimacy from the citizens to correct the wrongly led processes in the past, distrusts these old committee members is a political decision. This is not about involving OSCE or anyone else. Let them be involved, but let's also involve our inspectors and investigators to see where the money was spent, how much they were paid, those who did nothing, those who were an embarrassment to the people of Macedonia and sold out Macedonian interests," Mickoski said.

SDSM leader Venko Filipche condemned Thursday the political discrediting of members of the Joint Multidisciplinary Expert Commission on Historical and Educational Issues and voiced support to the idea of involving foreign experts in its work.

"First, I condemn the political discrediting of the members of the history commission. It has a clearly defined task, and that is to establish a common interpretation of historical facts. Thus, it holds no space for politics, while politicization and attempts at political discrediting undermines the essence of the overall process and seriously discredits the expertise of its members, who are professionals in those fields," Filipche stressed.

According to him, politicians might help if they initiate an additional model, for example the involvement of foreign experts, as is the case in some European countries.

"I believe that including international experts in the history commission with Bulgaria is not a bad thing in general. They will definitely influence the elimination of unnecessary political influences and bring in experience from previous committees. Therefore, I condemn the political discrediting and politicization of the history commissions," Filipche told a press conference in the Parliament. 

Photo: MIA archive