Skopje, 26 August 2024 (MIA) — The Joint Multidisciplinary Expert Committee on Historical and Educational Issues will consist of new members soon, Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski said Monday, adding that the current committee did not live up to people's expectations and did not safeguard the national interests of the Macedonian people.

"No, there is no political background to this," he told the press. "It is normal for a new government, for new people who govern, to make personnel changes." 

"I don't see the problem here," he continued. "Personally, I think the current joint committee absolutely did not live up to people's expectations and was not a guardian of the Macedonian national interests." 

He added that organizational changes were "logical, when you have a new government." 

"I don't see why there would be any politics involved in this," Mickoski said.

The joint Macedonian-Bulgarian historical committee was formed in line with the Good Neighborly Agreement between North Macedonia and Bulgaria, signed in August 2017.

The committee is made up of historians and professors from both countries. The Macedonian team is led by Dragi Gjorgjiev, a member of the Macedonian Academy of Sciences and Arts and a professor at the state university's Institute of National History. mr/