SDSM leader Venko Filipce is in France today for meetings with officials in the French Foreign and Europe Ministry, the Assembly and Rene Troccaz, special envoy for the Balkans. During the visit, Filipce promoted his proposal for a resolution that would detail Macedonia’s red lines in the issues of the Macedonian national identity and language, when it comes to the talks with Bulgaria.

It’s time for political maturity and shared responsibility. SDSM is prepared to lead with pro-active approach on solutions that will move Macedonia forward, toward the European Union, Filipce said.

VMRO-DPMNE responded by reminding him that SDSM caused the dispute with Bulgaria by endorsing the so-called French proposal, which requires that Macedonia makes major concessions at the start of the process, without guarantees that Bulgaria will not raise other requests after Macedonia’s EU negotiation talks begin.

Let’s see what new French proposal will Filipce bring us, after he already cemented our country in place with his prior lobbying. We also expect to see how Filipce protects Macedonian national interests, that he already gave up on once, VMRO-DPMNE said in a statement.