Bulgaria abuses power as EU member state to say Macedonia is essentially an artificial country, says Johns Hopkins, analyst and lecturer at the School of Advanced International Studies Edward Joseph in interview for Radio Free Europe. He adds that Bulgaria's position towards Macedonia is that not only is it an artificial country and a Yugoslav artificial creation, but our language and history are based on the Bulgarian identity.

- What I can point out is the fact that people in Bulgaria who are known to have very strong pro-Russian affinities like President Rumen Radev and former Prime Minister Boyko Borisov have a strong Russian inclination. It is number one. Number two is that Bulgarian experts from Bulgaria tell me that there is a lot of corruption. Lots of corrupt Russian money in Bulgaria and we know this is a standard method of operation. Can I, Edward Joseph, point out and give evidence of a criminal who took the law into his own hands - No. But to say that it is credible, but we must also remember that the voluntary nature of those who are subordinate to Russia is possible. "Even if they do not receive some instructions, their subordination is anti-democratic and pro-Russian, and they are exploiting this Macedonian issue to achieve that," Joseph told RFE / RL.