Boris Yachev in front of FACTS: Pendarovski could not beat Silyanovska in anti-Bulgarian speaking

After the elections in North Macedonia, VMRO-DPMNE will have 59 deputies, which gives it great certainty that it can form a government, the approval of which requires 61 deputies. With its 19 mandates, the coalition led by DSI - “European Front” is the second political force. With one mandate less - 18, is the coalition led by the SDSM, the coalition of Albanian parties “It deserves” they will have 13 deputies. The "Left", which had two in the previous parliament, will now have 6 deputies, and the ZNAM movement, which is participating in elections for the first time, will enter the new parliament of North Macedonia with 5 deputies. With 300,000 more votes, Gordana Siljanovska-Davkova will be the first female president of North Macedonia. What does this mean for relations with Bulgaria… Boris Yachev, leader of "Conservative Bulgaria", spoke to FAKTI.

- Mr. Yachev, VMRO-DPMN won the elections in North Macedonia – for president and parliament. What does this mean for relations with Bulgaria?
- This means going back at least 15 years in the relations between Bulgaria and North Macedonia.

- Why?
- Because anti-Bulgarian rhetoric has proven to be the winning rhetoric in Macedonian society. It is very easy for anti-Bulgarian messages to penetrate into the hearts and minds of the Macedonian citizens. This was seen to be a winning policy - even if conjunctural and temporary. I am more than sure that this policy will start to be shared even by the few remaining sober Macedonian politicians with a normal attitude towards Bulgaria. Inevitably, they will also be seduced by the achievement of some temporary success based on anti-Bulgarian rhetoric. And something else. VMRO-DPMN underwent a very interesting metamorphosis, which I would rather call a deformation.

- What do you mean?
- Why in North Macedonia are they persistently trying to forget this, and the leaders - especially of VMRO-DPMN, are even more trying to clear their memory. I mean that in the 1990s, this party was headed by leaders who had a very clear pro-Bulgarian self-awareness and were very frequent guests in Bulgaria. So they and the then young Bulgarian politicians - I mean the cadres of the SDS, grew up politically together. Then the idea was formed that the two neighboring countries should go together. Moreover, Bulgaria was the first to recognize the autonomy of North Macedonia, then we extended our hand to them for membership in NATO, we were by their side when they argued with Greece about their identity. Bulgaria has always been on the side of North Macedonia. And in those years, the first leaders of VMRO-DPMN were part of this common young generation of politicians.

- And what we observe in recent years…
- A total reversal in the behavior of the party. Especially when we talk about the anti-Bulgarian manifestations, because this party is behind 90% - not to say 100%, of all anti-Bulgarian manifestations. Including, their people shot at Bulgarian clubs in North Macedonia, trampled and insulted the national flag, carried out physical attacks and mistreated people with a Bulgarian self-consciousness. That's why I say that VMRO-DPMN suffers a lot from a strange deformation.

- Gordana Siljanovska is the president, her party is the first political force in the country, for the first time Skopje will have a female president. What can we expect from her?
- In 2019 – again during the presidential elections, I was in Skopje as a representative of the Organization for Fair Elections to the European Parliament, as a representative of the Bulgarian Parliament and as the deputy head of the Bulgarian delegation. The same couples reached the runoff as they are now. Then Pendarovski won with his pro-European thinking, with his vision of a politician who will confidently lead North Macedonia to Europe, to the European Union, to new economic markets, to new economic relations and in relation to Bulgaria. He was particularly tolerant and with President Radev they started towards normal and good-neighborly relations. In general, Pendarovski demonstrated a good attitude towards Bulgaria and the Bulgarian people. However, the last two years of his rule as president were marked by very bright anti-Bulgarian rhetoric, with very bright anti-Bulgarian messages and by an open speech against Europe and the European Union. Well, it turns out that somersault that he did at the end of his term did not bring him success. He lost. And this is his difference with Gordana, who spoke against Bulgaria from the very beginning. It's just that Pendarovski could not outdo Siljanovska in his anti-Bulgarian speech. Now the competition was who would speak uglier, louder and more fiercely against Bulgaria.

- Siljanovska declared herself in favor of the European integration of Skopje, but does not accept that Bulgarians should be included in the Constitution. What's next?
- Things are interconnected, because this remains the only condition, which, if not fulfilled, North Macedonia will continue to sink into its Balkan problems. But there is also something very important here, to which both the new president from VMRO-DPMN and the Macedonian society are trying to close their eyes. The problem is this. Half of the parties that entered the Macedonian parliament are Albanian parties. And they categorically state that they will defend the rights of the Albanian population to the end. Whatever that means. Currently, a large part of Macedonian municipalities are dominated by rulers of Albanian origin - ruling mayors, municipal councilors, administration. This is a hidden danger. If we remember the 90s in Macedonia, then the country had very big problems with individual manifestations of Albanian separatism, fueled, of course, by external factors from Albania, professing the policy and dream of a “Greater Albania”. In general, this Albanian government is a ticking time bomb for which the Macedonian rulers should clearly open their eyes. So Bulgaria is not their big problem. Their problem is internal, their problem is in Albanian demography, because there is a demographic explosion there. The hidden danger is not in Bulgaria, but with them.