The Foreign Ministry issued a statement rejecting comments from SDSM official Andrej Zernovski, about alleged “secret agreement” with Bulgaria to overcome the historic dispute. Zernovski claimed that the Government already reached some kind of an agreement with Bulgaria, but is hiding it from the public.

Today’s press conference by SDSM is another attempt to create hysteria and misinform the public. Instead of taking responsibility and apologizing for the damage it has caused to the national and foreign policy positions of the state, SDSM is once again spreading gross untruths and fabrications. The claims of a secret agreement or secret negotiations are just another in a series of fabrications that SDSM is spreading to the public. It is a fact that the institutions regularly communicate with the member states of the European Union, with the European institutions, with Bulgaria and with other international partners. These talks are conducted transparently, and the position of the Government is clear and repeatedly publicly confirmed. There are no concessions being made with our national interests, identity, language and history. Full membership in the European Union remains a strategic determination and the ultimate goal of this Government. This is precisely the essential difference between this Government and SDSM. In the past, agreements and compromises were made far from the public eye and to the detriment of national positions. Today, foreign policy is conducted responsibly, principledly and in accordance with national interests and the will of the citizens. Transparency and consistent protection of national interests are the key difference between this and the previous government, the Foreign Ministry pointed out.

VMRO-DPMNE also issued a statement, noting that SDSM has recently lied about migrant camps being opened in Macedonia and the country going bankrupt. “Everything that the dregs from SDS say is opposite from the truth”, the party added.