War on the border with Albania? The former Bulgarian prime minister gives a strong warning and reveals the plan of the Russian president: Putin is preparing a terrible conflict in...

The former Bulgarian Prime Minister, Boyko Borisov, declared on Saturday in Sofia that certain structures are trying to bring North Macedonia back under the influence of Russia.

He did not specify who those structures are, but related such claims to the January 16 incident in Ohrid, North Macedonia, where a member of a Bulgarian club in this city was physically attacked.

"An act like the beating of a Bulgarian puts the public completely on the side of the beaten and can take us in a different direction that is completely in favor of Putin and his geostrategic plans for the Balkans.

"Here I see an attempt to return North Macedonia under Russian influence, deliberately, and this is becoming very active. Under no circumstances should you be deceived. The best thing for Bulgaria is that North Macedonia and Albania are in the European Union and NATO," said Borisov at a press conference of the BERG party.

The former Bulgarian Prime Minister, Boyko Borisov, said that he will insist that those responsible for the beating of the secretary of the Bulgarian club "Tsar Boris Treti" from Ohrid, Hristijan Pendikov, be brought to justice, as this, according to him, "undermines the great efforts we have made since North Macedonia and Albania should follow the path of the European Union".

Borisov said that North Macedonia has not included in the Constitution the important things for Bulgaria and has not protected the Bulgarians from aggression. He accused the Bulgarian government of diplomatic ignorance.

"They left important topics under the carpet that led to the escalation of relations between the two countries," he said.

The former Bulgarian prime minister says that "someone really wants Bulgaria to veto" Macedonia's European integration.

Bulgarian media reported that the Parliamentary Committee on Foreign Affairs in the Bulgarian Parliament adopted a Declaration condemning "acts of violence against Bulgarians, their clubs and organizations".

The Declaration states that "amending the Constitution is a necessity for North Macedonia to continue the process of European integration".

On January 23, Sofia withdrew its ambassador from Skopje as a sign of dissatisfaction with the incident in Ohrid.

Relations between Macedonia and Bulgaria have been tense for more than two years, after Sofia blocked Macedonia's EU integration in 2019 due to a historical, linguistic and identity dispute.

The blockade was overcome in June 2022 and the country's negotiations with the EU began, but Bulgaria conditions the opening of chapters on the inclusion of Bulgarians in the Constitution of North Macedonia, but the parliamentary majority currently does not have the necessary two-thirds majority in the Assembly .

The parties in power in North Macedonia are working to expand the government even with the Albanian opposition with the aim of increasing the majority, but without the votes of the deputies of VMRO DPMNE the approval will be impossible.

Meanwhile, the Macedonian opposition says that the changes will not be approved while repeating calls for early elections.