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North Macedonian Prime Minister Zoran Zaev announced that his country remains a friend of Bulgaria, despite the veto imposed by Sofia at the start of Skopje negotiations with the EU. According to Zaev, the two parties should not distance themselves.
“We must be close nations, cooperate, open perspectives for young people and children. This is everyone’s duty, of course, especially mine and Borissov as the first in the executive power of both countries,” commented the prime minister. Television interview cited by BGNES.
Bulgaria’s decision is a failure for the EU, and the Macedonian identity and Macedonian language are not subject to negotiations, the government of the Republic of North Macedonia said after yesterday’s decision by Bulgaria to veto Macedonia, Macedonian media reported. , cited by BTA.
The government says that so far no conditions have been created to overcome “the new Bulgarian demands and therefore Bulgaria has decided at this time not to approve our negotiating framework in the EU.”
“This is a failure of the EU’s enlargement policy, a bad message for the entire region and a defeat for fundamental European values and principles,” the government said.
According to the Skopje authorities, Bulgaria’s decision is not in the spirit of good neighborly relations and this position of the Bulgarian government contradicts Article 2 of the Treaty of Friendship of 2017.
“Our position is clear: we believe that European integration cannot be held hostage to bilateral problems. Negotiations with the EU must not turn into negotiations with Bulgaria,” he said.
“Today the opportunity to agree on the negotiating framework was lost, the next opportunity is at the General Affairs Council in December. We cannot give up in any case, we have no alternative. The talks continue today to find a way to overcome these differences. within the positions of the state, “said Chancellor Bujar Osmani, quoted by Sloboden Pechat.
“It is important for us to have an intergovernmental conference in December to meet the conditions, so we have two options. One is to agree on the framework in November and the other is to agree on the framework in December, as there are two General Affairs Councils in “Unfortunately, today the opportunity to confirm the European history not only of the country but of the entire region was lost, and I think this will significantly affect confidence in the EU,” Osmani said last night in an interview with Sitel TV, quoted by the newspaper ..
The negotiation process is a difficult process, Bulgaria must accept not only the first intergovernmental conference, but 130 times more in the course of negotiations to become a full member, he recalled. “And not just Bulgaria, but 27 member states. We have to get used to the fact that this is a difficult process that requires hard work, skills, diplomacy, argumentation to pave the way for membership,” the chancellor said.
Nothing else could be done during this period. However, I want to say that, on the contrary, such decisions do not discourage us at all, because I, knowing the process, know that we will face other obstacles and barriers until the day of membership. Today it is Bulgaria, tomorrow it will be another country, the day after tomorrow it will be a group of countries. It is hard work, but we have a plebiscite decision by citizens that they want to be members of the EU, Osmani emphasized.
When asked for details about the talks with Sofia, Osmani said they should be held behind closed doors. “There is no Plan B regarding the Neighborhood Agreement and this must be clear to us,” he said.
Bulgaria’s veto of North Macedonia’s European path is “scandalous” and could have consequences for the European integration of the entire region, said Serbian People’s Party Chairman Vuk Jeremic, calling on the EU to support the Republic of North Macedonia in the process, the Danas newspaper reported. .
“Due to the promises of a European future, at the insistence of Greece, North Macedonia even agreed to change its name, and now Bulgaria wants to humiliate it by accepting that it must thank its language and culture. This” is a dramatic message that can be relativized in very much the European mantra of good neighborly relations, “Jeremic told the Warsaw Security Forum, organized by videoconference.
“Now opponents of Serbia’s European route could say: look what happened to the Macedonians, who changed the name of their country because of Greece, to comply with an even tougher request from Bulgaria.” Because of the EU, we will give in to Kosovo, they will give us new demands regarding Bosnia and Herzegovina, “Jeremic was quoted as saying.
Jeremic, a former Serbian foreign minister and former president of the UN General Assembly, also said that Serbia is “stuck on the road to the EU” and will not move forward as long as Alexander Vucic and his Serbian Progressive Party are in power.
“Serbia is the only country in the region today that has no opposition in parliament, in Europe only in Belarus. Vucic has a majority of more than 90 percent of the MPs, but unfortunately continues to receive congratulations from individual European leaders,” he said. . Jeremic.
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