The Bulgarian media outlet Actualno.com published an article titled “To Disown Your Own Wife: The Wife of the Macedonian Prime Minister Is Bulgarian”, claiming it possesses official documents related to the family of Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski’s wife, Roza Mickoska.

According to the publication, the documents include a “certificate of Bulgarian origin, autobiography, and declaration” belonging to Stefitsa Janeva — Roza Mickoska’s sister — who is a Bulgarian citizen on the basis of proven Bulgarian origin.

“Actualno.com possesses a document of Bulgarian origin, an autobiography, and a statement from Stefitsa Janeva — sister of Roza Mickoska, wife of Hristijan Mickoski.”

In the declaration, as reported by the outlet, it states:

“Her mother, her father, their children, including her sister, are Bulgarians.”

This publication comes several months after Bulgarian media previously reported that the prime minister’s wife’s family are Bulgarian citizens on the basis of proven Bulgarian origin and that the family maintains business ties in Bulgaria associated with companies generating significant revenues.

The context: refusal of constitutional amendments

The article directly links this personal aspect with the prime minister’s recent statement from the parliamentary podium that he will not support constitutional amendments that would include Bulgarians in the Constitution as a recognized ethnic community — a condition for progress in the EU integration process.

“Last week, the North Macedonian Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski once again demonstrated unwillingness for a genuine start to negotiations… stating that he will not support amendments to the Macedonian Constitution that would guarantee Bulgarians in the country the same rights as other recognized ethnic communities.”

According to the outlet, the prime minister’s arguments are:

“a shift of focus from the specific obligations undertaken by Skopje toward external accusations that do not lead to institutional progress.”

“The political line in direct conflict with personal reality”

The sharpest part of the article focuses, as stated, on the personal dimension of the issue.

“Thus, the inevitable question arises: how can the Prime Minister of North Macedonia deny the rights of his own wife, and why does he refuse to recognize the rights of her family — people with a clearly expressed Bulgarian identity? The political line enters into direct conflict with personal reality.”

The outlet emphasizes that the issue is not whether it is “good” or “bad” to be Bulgarian, but why, in their view, there is a gap between public policy and family reality.

Regional political context

The article also mentions Mickoski’s relationship with Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić.

“One of the explanations for this position lies in Mickoski’s increasingly visible dependencies on Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić… coordinated political messaging and synchronization on sensitive regional topics.”

The question being raised

The article concludes with the assertion that, according to the outlet, North Macedonia’s path to the European Union is not blocked by external factors, but by internal political decisions.

“As long as this model dominates governance, North Macedonia’s path to the EU remains blocked — not because of external conditions, but because of internal decisions.”

With this, the outlet indirectly raises the question of consistency between the prime minister’s public positions and the data that, according to them, emerge from documents related to his wife’s family.