Skopje, 22 October 2021 (MIA) – Petar Todorov, member of the Macedonian team within the joint multidisciplinary commission for historical and educational issues of North Macedonia and Bulgaria, claims that no one in North Macedonia is putting political pressure on the commission’s activities. We, he added, are trying to protect national interests via scientific principles and no one can say we’re trying to betray these interests. “So far, we’ve reached solutions and issued recommendations that we think are helpful for overcoming bilateral issues, all the while protecting the national interests of North Macedonia, Macedonians and other ethnic communities. Scientific principles have never been up for discussion within the team. We’ve always stuck to them and will continue to do so,” Todorov told Sitel TV on Friday evening. He underlined that no member of the commission has been pressured by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the government or any political party. Moreover, Todorov added that all Macedonian nationals have an interest in commission activities, stressing that unfortunately they have been put in political focus in Skopje and Sofia and not in Brussels, Paris and Berlin, due to the approach of the Bulgarian team. According to him, no progress was made in the past two days, although his colleague Gjorgiev has cited changes as grounds for his resignation. “Proposals discussed yesterday and today don’t stray from what was discussed in recent months,” Todorov said. In regard to comments made by co-chair commission, Bulgaria’s Angel Dimitrov, that talks were going well but something changed on Thursday, Todorov said that the change happened today and was initiated by the Bulgarian team. He stressed that he can’t claim that the Bulgarian team is suffering political pressure, but noted that he has noticed changes in their behavior after Bulgaria’s Parliament adopted is framework position in October 2019 and the explanatory memorandum over North Macedonia’s negotiating framework was issues. “They suddenly started aligning their positions with those documents, which has hindered commission activities,” he said. According to him, the commission must resume activities and make sure history isn’t used for radical political goals. “We can’t argue over history, but must acknowledge different views it. Only by showing empathy and understanding will we be able to achieve our shared goal, which is building good relations. If one sides tries to force a narrative to the other, we won’t be able to find a solution,” Todorov, added. He said that resolving historical issues would require greater participation of scientists, as well as self-criticism from the Bulgarian side in regard to its views on history and its interpretation. Todorov also stressed that every solution reached by the commission so far has been in line with national interests. No one is betraying interests and therefore no one has abused the commission and our activities to promote that approach. The commission is ready to publicly release all proposals so that people see what has been agreed on and understand that there has been no betrayal or manipulation. If I had the power to release them, I would have,” Todorov said, denying any sort of betrayal.