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Krassimir Karakachanov
“Our position is clear: we want the government of North Macedonia to comply with the agreements it signs.”
This was stated by Deputy Prime Minister, Defense Minister and IMRO President Krassimir Karakachanov during a “Western Balkans” conference. The important international forum was organized online by the New Direction Foundation for European Reform, whose vice president is Angel Djambazki, member of the Party of European Conservatives and Reformists and vice president of IMRO, and the International Republican Institute (IRI).
“On August 1, 2017, Bulgaria signed a treaty of friendship and good neighborliness. On the basis of this contract, it was formulated what to do with the disputed issues. It is known that it cannot be a true candidate for membership of the European Union if you have unresolved issues with your neighbors. Macedonia signed two agreements: with Bulgaria in 2017 and with Greece in 2018. And although the agreement with Greece was fulfilled in 1 month, absolutely nothing has been accomplished under the agreement with Bulgaria. However, in 2018, Bulgaria accepted and Macedonia became a member of NATO. Two more years have passed and we see that the government of Skopje perceives the Bulgarian position not as nobility, but as a weakness. Perhaps part of Skopje’s political elite he believes that he can sign contracts without fulfilling them. I will tell you that agreements between subjects of international law are signed to be observed, “said Karakachanov.
He said the door to start negotiations was not closed.
“We have always emphasized that the expansion of European and NATO structures in the Western Balkans is an important element of European security. But this cannot be at the expense of the Bulgarian national interest. And if anyone imagines that they can ignore the interest of a member state on behalf of the interests and especially the stubbornness of a candidate member state, he has not read the European treaty well and is quite confused, ”said the deputy prime minister.
Karakachanov insisted that Bulgaria’s position was not vetoed.
“I would not call a veto to Bulgaria’s position. No way. We do not veto Macedonia. We say that we are postponing the convening of the first intergovernmental conference, at which negotiations with the Republic of North Macedonia will begin. There are many reasons for this. Our friends, I would say that our compatriots in Macedonia, and rather their political elite believed in the power of lobbying to such an extent that they thought that Bulgaria would be pressured by the larger countries and in the specific situation by the German Presidency of the Council of the EU, not to obstruct and agree to start negotiations. However, the problem is not so much in this unnecessary self-confidence, which in the end proved catastrophic for Skopje’s foreign policy, but in the fact that in North Macedonia they believe that they can sign agreements without respecting them, “said Karakachanov.
“In the name of justice, we must point out that Macedonian Prime Minister Zoran Zaev is making efforts and is willing to compromise, but may not have sufficient support from his political supporters and the elite of Macedonia. his party. The other day, he mentioned that the postponement of Macedonia’s membership in the European Union affected all Macedonian nationalities. And he listed them: Macedonians, Serbs, Croats, Albanians, Wallachians, including the 3,000 Bosnians. However, He did not mention a nation that historically exists in Macedonia, and they are Bulgarians. More than 120,000 citizens of the Republic of North Macedonia are also Bulgarians. Because they have relatives in Bulgaria, because they call themselves Bulgarians and have identified themselves as such. But I missed them, “Karakachanov said.
He said that there is aggression not only against Bulgaria, but also against Greece and other neighboring countries.
“If we now allow this country to join the European Union in this way, it will be a problem for the national security of all European countries,” said the defense minister.
According to him, the Macedonian political elite thought they could join NATO and the European Union without making adjustments to “this current Yugoslav policy, Belgrade-Moscow towards Bulgaria.”
“The problem is not that a new identity has been imposed on a part of the population. The problem is that this new identity is imposed by the falsification of Bulgarian history. The theft of history and disputes over heroes of recent and distant times have occurred among other countries and still exist. However, the theft of Bulgarian history, its falsification and distortion of the facts is used to create a new Macedonian identity, but also to impose hatred on the Bulgarians, the Bulgarian people and Bulgaria as a state, “said Karakachanov.
He recalled that Bulgaria was the first country to recognize the independence of the Republic of Macedonia in 1991 and pointed out that during these 30 years we have always helped the Republic of North Macedonia.
According to him, not enough is being invested in informing our Western partners.
Krassimir Karakachanov also made a historical retrospective of what is happening in the Western Balkans in the last two centuries.
The Western Balkans Conference was also attended by the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bulgaria, Ekaterina Zaharieva, the European Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth, Maria Gabriel,
IMRO MPs Krassimir Bogdanov and Alexander Sidi, MEPs, politicians and international experts.
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