“The Bulgarian Parliament does not set different conditions, but we insist on respecting the agreed preconditions for the Republic of North Macedonia to begin negotiations for membership in the European Union,” Bulgarian Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov stated on the BNR’s ‘Nedela 150’ show, in response to the question of whether Bulgaria would take a step back by withdrawing the request for Bulgarians to be included in the Macedonian Constitution.
“I don’t think there is such a conversation at all,” he stressed and added:
“We do not have unresolved bilateral relations with them. We have a Good Neighborly Agreement and a signed protocol to it. The fact that the protocol is being contested before the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Macedonia is part of the internal political choreography that is taking place in Skopje, including before the eyes of the European Council,” Zhelyazkov said.
“Bulgaria does not express any position other than the position of the European Council – to include constitutional amendments and take into account all the provisions envisaged in the protocol, which are part of the 2022 compromise proposal. We do not impose any conditions different from that proposal adopted in 2022. If the authorities in Skopje want to be part of the EU, they must walk this path, which is part of the European Union’s own position towards Skopje,” the Bulgarian prime minister stressed.
When asked whether a new bilateral protocol between Bulgaria and Macedonia is possible that would guarantee Skopje that there will be no further obstacles on the European path, he said that there can be no greater guarantee than the unanimous decision of the Bulgarian Parliament.
“It should be clear to our colleagues in Skopje that we stand by this position, because it is principled. We will not change anything in terms of turning this issue into a bilateral sport, nor in seeking invisible influences or interactions with the main political players in the world,” Zhelyazkov emphasized.