Clarifying and defining what kind of ethnic community exists in any of the countries in the region I think would not be productive at the moment, we are guided by European principles and practices and it will remain so, it is our constitutional obligation, said Minister Bojan Maricic answering a journalist question at today's press conference with German Minister for Europe Anna Lirmann.

So far, he stressed, we have had the practice of non-interference in the internal affairs of any of our neighboring countries.

- It is an obligation of the Constitution, so it is not in Northern Macedonia where and what kind of minority there is in the region, it is an internal issue of all countries in the region, including Bulgaria, and every group of people, ethnic community or political party or an association have the right to claim their rights through the Council of Europe, the European Court of Human Rights or the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights, Maricic said.

Regarding the issue of the working groups, as well as the historical commission, Maricic said that everything that has been done so far, ie the efforts so far, will be incorporated in the next framework.

- More commissions would be formed, which means that there would be more people, institutions, factors or actors involved in the process, but I do not think that in the part of the Historical Commission, although we have not agreed yet, I assume it will remain and continue to function , in what form we will see, but it is actually a Commission set out in the bilateral Friendship and Good Neighbor Agreement that we ratified in 2017. All the people who were involved and everything that has been done will continue, said Maricic, pointing out that it is important for us that the process continues to be honest, constructive and friendly in order to find a solution.

VMRO-DPMNE reacted to his statement:

- Maricic on the first day as a continuation of his official tenure publicly distanced himself from the Macedonian minority in Bulgaria while nodding his head at the Bulgarian demands for inclusion of Bulgarians in the Macedonian Constitution. Maricic's statement is that he will not interfere in minority rights in Bulgaria. We ask: Who else but Macedonia should be interested in the rights of Macedonians in Bulgaria? Does Maricic's statement mean that he will ask Bulgaria not to interfere in the rights of minorities in Macedonia ?, said the opposition party, emphasizing that it is "shameful and unworthy behavior of a Deputy Prime Minister which is a continuation and continuity of shameful policies of Zaevism.