SOFIA – The new Bulgarian government has announced that it refuses to negotiate with North Macedonia to soften the conditions under which Skopje can start EU accession negotiations.
Three years ago, Bulgaria lifted its veto on opening EU accession talks with North Macedonia, agreeing to mutual concessions that were acceptable to all 27 member states. The government in Skopje agreed to include the Bulgarian minority in its constitution, and the authorities in Sofia promised to lift the veto on the start of negotiations with North Macedonia.
In early 2024, the right-wing nationalist party VMRO-DMPNE came to power, and the party leader Hristijan Mickoski became prime minister. The party won elections with harsh anti-Bulgarian rhetoric, promising that it would not make concessions to Sofia.
Mickoski claimed that he was waiting for the election of a regular government in Sofia to begin negotiations to lift the Bulgarian veto, but the first signals are that the dialogue will not be renewed. Bulgaria reminds that the inclusion of the Bulgarian minority in the constitution of North Macedonia is not a bilateral problem, but is already a condition of Brussels towards Skopje.
“Bulgaria remains extremely consistent in terms of its policy towards the Western Balkans and the European integration of all countries in this region. There is a European consensus, as it is known in Bulgaria – the French proposal, which will be strictly followed. What was reached as an agreement is not a bilateral problem between Sofia and Skopje, it is between Brussels and our neighbours from the Republic of North Macedonia,” the minister commented.
VMRO-DPMNE continues to insist that the constitutional changes be adopted, but that they enter into force after North Macedonia joins the EU, in order to prevent the risk of Bulgaria imposing a new veto on other grounds.
North Macedonian Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski has already requested meetings with representatives of the Bulgarian government.
“In the past, we have already had meetings with the Bulgarian leadership at the highest level and their then caretaker prime minister. I expect that in the next period there will be meetings with the Bulgarian government at various levels and this should not surprise us. Neither we will disappear, nor will they disappear, we will still be neighbours,” Prime Minister Mickoski said.
“We need to build good neighbourly relations, but this does not mean that we agree on some topics that divide us,” he added.
(Krassen Nikolov | Euractiv.bg)