Moscow reacts to Skopje's accusations: Let's see transcripts

Moscow reacts to Skopje's accusations: Let's see transcripts

As she said, "such statements are absolutely in contradiction with the position of official Skopje about the efforts of Macedonian authorities when it comes developing constructive relations with Russia and strengthening bilateral cooperation."

"Bearing in mind that Bloomberg's previous victim was recently Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabic, we invite the agency to publish the full text of the interview, as well as audio and video recordings of the conversation with Sekerina," Zakharova said.

According to her, such accusations come from Russophobes who are publicly making false and unfounded allegations.

"In these insinuations we see the attempts by the enemies of Russia and Macedonia to further complicate the traditionally friendly relations between the two countries and draw public attention away from the real threats regarding the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Macedonia, especially in light of the dragging of the country into NATO, without taking into account its national interests," the spokeswoman said.

Zakharova also said that the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) has called on Macedonia to clarify whether Sekerinska really said what Bloomberg published - "since her statement is yet to be denied by anyone."

The Russian officials' reference to the Serbian prime minister concerns her interview given to Bloomberg in early July, when the agency quoted her as saying that if forced to choose between Russia and the European Union - "Serbia would choose the EU."

Brnabic then handed the transcript of the interview to Russian Ambassador Aleksandr Chepurin, in order to clarify the alleged statement about "choosing between Russia and the EU."

Brnabic said at the time that she did this "not to justify herself" but because "it's important to maintain the continuity of the prime minister being open and sincere with each partner."