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Zoran Zaef expressed his strong dissatisfaction with the conditions imposed by Bulgaria not to block the start of negotiations for his country’s accession to the European Union.
Last Friday, North Macedonia’s Foreign Minister Bujar Osmani visited Sofia, where he met with his Bulgarian counterpart Ekaterina Zakharieva and Prime Minister Boyko Borisov to find a compromise between the two countries. and Bulgaria to lift its reservations on the start of accession negotiations between North Macedonia and the EU.
“The talks between the Minister of Foreign Affairs of our country, Bujar Osmani, and the Prime Minister, Boyko Borisov, were good, but the talks between Minister Ekaterina Zakharieva and Minister Bouyar Osmani were not very good. What the other proposes part is not in line with good neighborly relations, it is not at all fraternal and it is far from any European concept. “If this continues to be the case, we must prepare the ‘Macedonian people’ for the possibility of not starting the first intergovernmental conference (ss between North Macedonia and the EU) expected in December, “said Zoran Zaef.
However, the Prime Minister of North Macedonia expressed the hope that he would be able to find a solution with his Bulgarian counterpart so that his country can start EU accession negotiations.
Zaef: What the other party proposes is not in line with good neighborly relations, it is not fraternal at all and is far from any European concept
Last August, Bulgaria presented to the capitals of the other 26 EU member states a lengthy document entitled “Explanatory Memorandum on Relations between the Republic of Bulgaria and the Republic of North Macedonia in relation to the Enlargement and Stabilization Process and EU Association “. “, Which reflects the Bulgarian positions on many historical problems with North Macedonia. In this sense, the” national and linguistic interventions that took place in North Macedonia in the 1970s after World War II “are fundamental.
The Bulgarian memo shocked Skopje, who saw it as an attempt to block North Macedonia’s EU accession talks “until Skopje recognizes that it is historically and linguistically part of Bulgaria.”
Sofia, although it was the first country to recognize the independence of its neighboring country in 1991, never recognized the latter’s language as “Macedonian”, considering it a dialect of Bulgarian and that the identity of the Slavic citizens of North Macedonia is Bulgarian .
At the end of March 2020, amid the coronavirus pandemic, North Macedonia became the 30th member of NATO, while the EU gave a “green light” for the start of accession negotiations, which are expected to start in December, if Bulgaria gave its consent to such a thing.
Source: ΑΠΕ-ΜΠΕ
