Mickoski offers the opposition a seat in the dialogue with Bulgaria: SDSM calls it a "circus", Levica rejects bilateral talks with Sofia

From the parliamentary rostrum, Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski held out a hand to the opposition: let them nominate their own representatives to the team running the dialogue with Bulgaria. "We will absolutely respect that," he said, answering a question from Arbana Pašoli of European Front about the strategy for unblocking EU integration. The opposition looked at the outstretched hand - and each party answered in its own way, most of them with a no.

SDSM were the harshest: "We don't take part in the Medrano circus, that's for Mickoski's satellites," adding that all responsibility lies with the prime minister, who in their view worked "on isolation, not integration". DUI answered diplomatically that it is always ready to contribute, but that "we need to see what the intentions of this open invitation are". Levica first said it had no position, then announced the most principled one: it accepts negotiations with EU institutions, but not with Bulgaria, because simply accepting bilateral talks with Sofia is a political position, not a neutral procedure. National unity, according to Levica, isn't built "by handing out seats on negotiating teams".

What is actually being negotiated?

The dialogue began on 8 October in Sofia, with a meeting between minister Timčo Mucunski and his Bulgarian counterpart Velislava Petrova-Chamova, on the advice of European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. Mucunski himself said there had been no progress. The signals from Sofia were that there will be no renegotiation of the constitutional changes with deferred effect. Mickoski says Bulgaria will be asked to accept the Action Plan for minorities, which, according to him, 26 member states have accepted - all except Bulgaria.

In a TV interview, the prime minister was even clearer: a deal is possible if there is a partnership, but if the "bullying" and the "we're in, you're out" stance continue, there will be no deal. And he added that he won't go "headfirst" into a process with no clear end.

The scene is familiar: the government invites the opposition to the table, the opposition doesn't want to be photographed at it, and Sofia won't open the subject Skopje most wants to talk about. When Sofia won't budge and there's no common position at home, the seat on the team being offered to the opposition looks more like a share of the blame than a place in the negotiations. The question is whether Mickoski is looking for partners in a solution, or witnesses to a failure.