MOSCOW. Dec 24 (Interfax) - The Russian Foreign Ministry has dismissed a statement by U.S. Deputy Secretary of State John Sullivan on Russia's interference in Macedonia's internal affairs and insisted that this remark is aimed actually at vindicating Washington's interference in this Balkan country's internal affairs.
"With its unsubstantiated anti-Russian rhetoric, Washington is trying to vindicate its shameless interference in the Republic of Macedonia's internal affairs, legitimate the flawed Prespa Agreement and drag one more country of the Balkan region into NATO contrary to its citizens' will, as was the case with Montenegro in 2017," the ministry said in a commentary on Friday.
Sullivan said during his visit to Skopje on December 18 that Russia was obstructing Macedonia's accession to NATO and was seeking to undermine the implementation of the Prespa Agreement, contrary to the Macedonian citizens' clearly expressed will.
The Russian Foreign Ministry said: "What demonstrated the Macedonian citizens' clearly expressed will is the failure of the referendum in the Balkan republic on September 20 this year, in which a majority rejected the idea of dragging Skopje into Euro-Atlantic institutions forced by the U.S. and its allies in exchange for reshaping the country's official name and abandoning its national interests."
"Second, as regards Russian interference, it is well known that it was precisely the U.S. ambassador who was in the building of the Assembly of the Republic of Macedonia during the odious voting on October 19, in which dirty manipulations, bribery and blackmail of lawmakers were used to secure the necessary results, which spilled into public view," it said.
"It is not Russian but U.S., EU, and NATO visitors who changed each other on the political stage in Skopje virtually on a daily basis only to railroad a package of constitutional amendments," it said.