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© Diary
After blocking the start of North Macedonia’s EU accession talks, Sofia announced that the door to talks with Skopje is open and Bulgaria is ready to acknowledge modern realities if North Macedonia recognizes the historical truth.
The position was announced by Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ekaterina Zaharieva in parliament, where she was heard on the matter along with another Deputy Prime Minister, Krassimir Karakachanov. The two spoke in place of Prime Minister Boyko Borissov.
However, to support the start of negotiations between Skopje and the EU, Sofia wants a legal framework with guarantees that North Macedonia will stop falsifying history and will have no territorial claims on Bulgaria, as well as recognition of the Macedonian language and the Macedonian minority in Bulgaria.
According to Ekaterina Zaharieva, this can be done through a protocol on the neighborhood agreement, which has been ratified by both parliaments. From his words it was clear that Bulgaria is ready to acknowledge modern realities, as “no one can deny the right to self-determination”, but North Macedonia must acknowledge the historical truth.
The other deputy prime minister, Krassimir Karakachanov, believes that now everything is in the hands of Skopje, as Sofia has done everything possible to get North Macedonia to start negotiations with the EU, but the Macedonians have acted as if Bulgaria were a candidate. According to him, Skopje must now renounce hate speech and the appropriation and falsification of history.
According to Christian Vigenin of the BSP, Bulgaria, which has always defended the European integration of the Western Balkans, also suffers from the decision to block the negotiations. He said that the Bulgarian negotiating team might need to be reconsidered and asked why Krassimir Karakachanov was on it.
Deputies from all groups, except the MRF representatives, who were absent, asked questions during the hearing.
