Sofia, 3 August 2022 (MIA) – The unilateral statement regarding the Macedonian language is Bulgaria’s way to invent “an artificial formula as an attempt to avoid saying it recognizes the Macedonian language”, a move that has raised an astonishing barrier in bilateral relations, says Bulgarian university professor Mihail Ivanov. Professor Ivanov, who is the co-founder of the Club of Bulgarian-Macedonian Friendship and former advisor on ethnic issues to late Bulgarian President Zhelyu Zhelev, told BNR that even the demand to include Bulgarians in the Macedonian Constitution is “thoughtless insistence” of the Bulgarian nationalists because it establishes a clear constitutional distinction between Macedonians and Bulgarians. “This means incorporation (of Bulgarians) in the Preamble alongside the Macedonian people as a separate ethnic community. The Preamble also lists Albanians, Serbs, Turks, Bosniaks and other ethnic communities. It is no coincidence that the leading organization of the Bulgarians from Skopje opposes this and insists it does not go through,” says Ivanov. He finds it strange that Bulgarian nationalists are saying out loud that Bulgarians and Macedonians are the same people but at the same time want to establish a clear constitutional and ethnic distinction between the Macedonians and the Bulgarians. “The problem of starting Macedonia’s EU accession negotiations seems to have been set aside. On the other hand, Bulgaria does not have much of a room for maneuver at this moment, because things are now in the hands in the European Commission, which will conduct the negotiations with the Republic of Macedonia,” adds Ivanov. According to him, the new Bulgarian caretaker government cannot and will not ask for a revision of the decision to unblock Skopje’s European perspectives because the Bulgarian side has limited room to undertake any steps in this regard.