Vlado Treneski in front of FACTS: Mickovski is panicked and desperate

The Prime Minister of the Republic of North Macedonia, Hristijan Mickovski, has once again stirred up passions after announcing that 700-800 Bulgarians live in his country. Mickovski drew a parallel with the last census in Albania, where 7057 citizens identified themselves as Bulgarians, and 2281 citizens were listed in the column “Macedonians”, compared to 5512 from the 2011 census. The 2023 census is the first since Albania recognized the Bulgarian minority in the country in 2017. Miskoski also asks why 800 people who identify themselves as Bulgarians should be included in the Constitution of the Republic of North Macedonia, while there is no similar requirement for Albania… Vlado Treneski, a Macedonian Bulgarian, Deputy Chairman of the Association of Macedonian Bulgarians "Interaction", spoke to FAKTİ.

- Mr. Treneski, are there only 800 Bulgarians living in the Republic of North Macedonia. This was stated by Prime Minister Hristiyan Mitzkoski from the parliamentary rostrum and asked why 800 people should be included in the Constitution?
- Naturally, Mitzkoski will allow himself to provoke and mock, after Lora Krumova in her interview with Kristiyan Pendikov asks him with undisguised belittling and contempt: "Were there a thousand and a few of you?" Then he added with sarcasm and irony something like: "Are you waiting in line with the Egyptians to be included in the Constitution?" This is undoubtedly a racist statement.
But who cares about such "small" details as the fact that the Croatians and Montenegrins should be included in the Constitution of North Macedonia at the same time as the Bulgarians and Egyptians? The North Macedonian Constitution would have been opened early tomorrow morning if only the Egyptians, Croatians and Montenegrins were in line to be included in the preamble. But apparently only the Bulgarians are a problem.

- Why is this so annoying. After all, we are talking about census data, but only 800 Bulgarians in the Republic of North Macedonia, as Mickoski says, is somehow to put it quite “cheeky“…
- Look, it is known that according to the last census, the Bulgarians in Macedonia are 3,504 people. The professional journalist Krumova either does not know this, or is under the influence of the previously prepared and sent emissaries from the Republic of North Macedonia, whose goal is to confuse the Bulgarians – who, as the writer Teodora Dimova says, are easily manipulated. I completely agree with her, but I would add that Bulgarians are not just easily, but highly manipulable, since apparently many people fall under the influence of individual amoral, "erudite" nihilists and swindlers, the fruit of the State Security Directorate (SDBA). These people roam and operate most freely everywhere in Bulgaria. They are just like crazy.

- People from the Macedonian services work in Bulgaria…
- I declare with full responsibility that dozens of UDBA agents are deeply embedded in Bulgarian society - in various spheres such as politics, culture, art, science, sports, etc. Around them gravitate hundreds, if not thousands of UDBA “useful idiots“, whom I call “Bulgarians“ -neither Bulgarians nor “ours”, who are seized by gold fever. And all this is happening while the Macedonian Bulgarians are trembling with fear of what tomorrow will bring them. That is precisely why we, the Macedonian Bulgarians, find ourselves in this absurd situation. The farmer Nikolay Vassilev from the circle of the sophistical Macedonianists wrote that the local people who define themselves as Bulgarians, not Macedonians, are no more than a few hundred people and have torn us apart and divided us into five subcategories. These “analysts-synthetics“ collaborate closely with the already mentioned swindlers of the UDBA.
- You are somehow talking about extreme things. Is that how they really look to you?
- Look, in Bulgaria everyone will calmly and rightly say: "All Macedonians are Bulgarians! Macedonia is Bulgarian before and now!" But at the same time, in the Republic of North Macedonia “officially” there are no Bulgarians.

It's not that we don't exist, but it's better if we don't exist.

This will make it easier for everyone, and the "analysts-synthesizers" will be able to analyze things more easily. The attitude of politicians and diplomats towards Macedonian Bulgarians is also a similar parody. First and foremost - there is no continuity. Every newly hatched and newly appointed DS-child somewhere has to have the Macedonian question explained to him again and again - at least since the Revival. From the MEP, deputy and diplomatic heights, the Macedonian question looks like a dot on Google Maps. That is why their approach is "satellite". We are delighted by any gesture related to Macedonia - be it Slavi Trifonov sending a "Macedonian astronaut" into space or some deputy (or deputy) wearing a T-shirt with the face of Gotse Delchev. We Macedonian Bulgarians are delighted with this to the point of ecstasy, despite all the pain and suffering. It is obvious that Macedonian Bulgarians and Bulgarian diplomacy in the Republic of North Macedonia live in parallel realities. While Bulgarian diplomats in the Republic of North Macedonia maintain idyllic harmony with all North Macedonian publishing houses, theaters and institutions - be they governmental or civil, as long as they are not truly Bulgarian and deal exclusively with fine things, such as fiction, opera, theater, ballet and fashion - we, Macedonian Bulgarians, “play the Heavy“.

Money is being thrown at sham “Bulgarian“ associations created on a family basis.

It is clear that various types of intermediaries and subcontractors are needed, which are so important for today's economy and charity. Clubs are being opened in empty garages. Concern for stray dogs and cats is demonstrated. And all this, of course, is wrapped in endless charity. We all know that charity is the best way to "create" personal wealth, and the fake marauding Foundation "Macedonia" certainly knows this best. It's another thing to gain experience as Yveline's broker from "Majesty".
In order not to sound defeatist, I will say that thank God not everyone is corrupt and manipulable in Bulgaria. The French proposal is on the table, which for me is a miracle, and the other day I read Rumina Dimitrova's brilliant comment "Politicians in Skopje do not read, and Bulgarians do not remember". Never since democracy, Macedonian Bulgarians have been in a better position internationally and never worse locally. That's why we sometimes sound defeatist, but the reason for this is precisely this absurd situation and collision.

- Let's go back to the numbers a little, because Mickoski's statement also refers to the censuses…
- Okay. I want to be precise and I will use specific numbers, because everything we hear is happening against the backdrop of this shocking reality in which we live – against the backdrop of this global clash between artificial intelligences (I'm deliberately saying it in the plural), the war in Ukraine, etc.
And at this very moment Mickoski states that there are only 700-800 Bulgarians in the Republic of North Macedonia.

What is this but a manifestation of natural political infantilism – but not the noble type like X (X) Musk.

Mickowski just wants to make a fuss. In fact, he is panicked and desperate. He is trying to blackmail, using the data from Albania to distract attention from the real problem.
In the case of the constitutions of Albania, the Republic of North Macedonia and Bulgaria, Mickowski again confuses handball with football and football with basketball - all this so that we do not notice what process the recognition of the Bulgarian minority by the Albanian government has triggered.

Namely - a sharp decline in the number of citizens who declared themselves Macedonians. From 5512 to 2281 people.

How will such a process affect the Republic of North Macedonia, if people rightly begin to reconsider their knowledge and consciousness.

I will use the terrible word re-Bulgarization. The "Macedonian elite" is horrified by this.

The preamble to the Constitution of the Republic of North Macedonia states that the country is composed of different ethnic groups that inhabit its territory, build its statehood and have sovereignty over the Republic of North Macedonia as parts of a people. That is why it is important that Bulgarians be included in the Constitution as a state-forming people, and not as a minority, as some politicians mistakenly claim – even in Bulgaria. In the Macedonian Constitution, the term “minority“ does not exist at all.

- Why is Mickovski doing all this?
- Because he has nothing else to do. When Bulgarians are included in the Constitution,

we will finally be able to live and exist without feeling like an “insult“ to the Macedonian national honor.

I hope that this will put an end to the last political trial in the history of the Republic of North Macedonia – which is the current trial against Lyubcho Georgievski. It is directly related to the inclusion of Bulgarians in the Constitution and the so-called French proposal, which was ratified by the 27 EU member states.
According to the terms of this agreement, hate speech must be stopped, historical falsifications must be corrected, and the files of the sinister services KOS and UDBA must be opened. It is these terms that make the accusations against Lyubcho Georgievski politically motivated and completely absurd. Around Georgievski and the “Ivan Mihaylov“ club in Bitola, a wider core of true, honest and patriotic Macedonian Bulgarians has formed. The goal was to discredit and destroy this core. All the structures of the UDBA, their swindlers and “useful idiots“ took up this task.
They do not want a single hair to fall from the head of the vulgar, uncivilized, chauvinistic, Albanophobic and Bulgaro-hating Macedonianism – the only thing that really hinders the European integration of the Republic of North Macedonia. That is why I personally support the petition of the “Ilinden“ Association to condemn the forced Macedonianization and assimilation in Bulgaria and the former Yugoslavia by the communist regime.
Mickovski is desperate. This is the last thing he can grab onto – the Bulgarians should not be included in the Constitution of the Republic of North Macedonia. Nothing new. This trend is clear. In North Macedonia, a targeted campaign against Bulgarians has long been underway. There was a graffiti on the Vardar River, in a prominent place, which read: "Bulgarians in the Constitution = treason."
This is the thesis that many analysts still defend today - even in Bulgaria. There are still fake "analysts" who claim that the inclusion of Bulgarians in the Constitution is not important or of little importance, forgetting the fact that this act will not directly affect people's minds, but will open processes that will certainly have an impact.

According to these commissioned analysts and propagandists, this was an exchange of "horse for chicken" or "bread for chain".

However, these "analyses" have nothing to do with reality. That is exactly why the so-called. French proposal is a miracle to me. Against the backdrop of the world we live in – after going through Covid, the economic crisis and the war in Ukraine – and despite all this, to crystallize this agreement… This is truly a miracle. And thank God that it exists.

– Will the recognition of the Bulgarians in the Republic of North Macedonia happen in order to start EU negotiations?
– Apparently there are reasons for Mickoski now to tackle the issue of the entry of the Bulgarians into the Constitution. There are many people who do not want this to happen.

– Mickoski also asks why the same requirement was not made to Albania, after 8,000 people there declared themselves as Bulgarians in the last census…
- Instead of asking this, let him answer – where are the Bulgarians disappearing to in North Macedonia? In this part of historical Macedonia, where the Bulgarian Revival began and all world statistics indicate that until 1919 the majority of the population there was Bulgarian. In some kind of statistical vacuum? Mickoski claims that there are only 700-800 Bulgarians in the country. However, I checked to be accurate:
In 2022, 10,000 people from the Republic of North Macedonia requested and received Bulgarian citizenship.
In 2023, their number increased by 2,000 (to 12,000).
In 2024, another 1,200 people more than the previous year received citizenship.
These are official data from the website of the Ministry of Justice of Bulgaria.
What does this mean? Over 10,000 citizens of the Republic of North Macedonia go to a notary every year, sign a declaration of origin that they are Bulgarians, that their parents are Bulgarians, etc.

Not to mention that over 100,000 Macedonian citizens have already received Bulgarian citizenship through the same mechanism.

Without going into the motives of each individual as to why they applied and how they proved their origin (since I do not want to and do not have the right to comment on it), you will still agree that they are much more than 700-800 people. And now, against the background of this information, how do Mickoski's words look? He claims that no more than 800 Bulgarians live in the Republic of North Macedonia. In the last census, 3,054 people clearly stated that they have a Bulgarian identity and define themselves as Bulgarians. More than 20,000 people declared to the census takers that they also have Bulgarian citizenship. And he is talking about 800… All this shows what an absurd situation we are in. I hope that this issue will be resolved through the implementation of the French proposal on the path of the Republic of North Macedonia to the EU.

– Is this how we go towards the EU?
– It is clear that there are forces in the Republic of North Macedonia that still do not want the Bulgarians to be recognized. There is a clash of different interests here, and the country falls into the strategies of foreign countries that benefit from the deteriorated relations between Bulgaria and the Republic of North Macedonia.
But something else is also clear – at the European Union level, this thesis, this “noon trick” will no longer work. Many people are working to provoke Bulgaria nowadays. A few days ago we heard the Speaker of the Parliament in Bulgaria Natalia Kiselova say that it would be good for Macedonia to return to the negotiating table. I don't know why she thinks so. Look, there is no place to “sit at the table” for new negotiations. The French proposal is not subject to renegotiation – it must be implemented. Minister Georg Georgiev is aware of this, and Boyko Borisov also assessed Mickoski's words as a provocation. But asynchronous statements by high-ranking political figures of this type are very dangerous and are immediately used for propaganda purposes. This is also the purpose of Mickoski's words - to provoke Bulgaria and draw it into possible new talks, which would be fatal. There is no better option than the French proposal. I say this with a clear conscience. We cannot achieve anything better. It simply must be implemented. Neither Mickoski nor the Macedonian elite can change this fact. The path of the Republic of North Macedonia is towards Europe.