Bulgarian Ambassador to North Macedonia Zhelyazko Radukov was summoned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade in Skopje, where he was given an oral objection regarding the use of the adjectival phrase “North Macedonian” by Bulgarian Foreign Minister Velislava Petrova, media in North Macedonia reported on Tuesday.
“At the meeting, he was given an oral objection regarding the inappropriate address by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Bulgaria, Velislava Petrova, who in her statement yesterday during the Foreign Affairs Council of the European Union used an inappropriate and incorrect adjective derived from the name of our country, using the expression ‘North Macedonian partners’,” the Foreign Ministry in Skopje said in a position statement, as quoted by media outlets.
The expression which the authorities of North Macedonia find objectionable was used by Bulgaria’s chief diplomat in Brussels on Monday, when she said: “We had a good first meeting. Bulgaria has a clearly established position, which since 2022 is not a bilateral issue but a matter of discussion between the EU and a candidate country. And today that position was reaffirmed. I am glad that there is very broad political consensus in Bulgaria on this position.” Petrova went on to note that she had also said this to her “North Macedonian partners” and expressed expectation that Skopje will take steps demonstrating political readiness to continue advancing on its European path.
In a Facebook post on Monday evening, North Macedonia Foreign Minister Timco Mucunski wrote that he and Petrova had not had an official bilateral meeting, but rather “a brief conversation on the sidelines of an event, in the presence of several colleagues”.
“At the same time, I would like to note that the use of the term ‘North Macedonian’ in relation to the Macedonian people is inaccurate and inappropriate. Macedonians are Macedonians. This is not a matter of politics, but of elementary respect for the identity and dignity of a people,” Mucunski wrote.
/RY/