Bulgaria’s ambassador in Skopje issued verbal protest over “North Macedonian” term used by Bulgarian Foreign Minister

Bulgaria’s ambassador to North Macedonia, Zhelyazko Radukov, has been summoned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade in Skopje, where he was issued with a verbal protest over the use of the term “North Macedonian” by Bulgaria’s Foreign Minister, Velislava Petrova, according to media reports in North Macedonia.

“During the meeting, a verbal protest was conveyed regarding the inappropriate wording used by the Foreign Minister of the Republic of Bulgaria, Velislava Petrova, who in her statement yesterday during the meeting of the European Union’s Foreign Affairs Council used an inappropriate and incorrect adjective derived from the name of our country, referring to ‘North Macedonian partners’,” media outlets quoted the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade in Skopje as saying.

“We had a nice first meeting. Bulgaria has a clearly established position which, since 2022, has not been a bilateral issue but a matter for discussion between the EU and a candidate country. That position was reaffirmed again today. I am pleased that there is broad political consensus in Bulgaria on this issue,” Velislava Petrova said yesterday in Brussels.

She added that she had conveyed the same message “to our North Macedonian partners” and expressed hope that Skopje would take steps to show the political readiness to move forward on its European path.

Later in the evening, North Macedonia’s Foreign Minister Timčo Mucunski wrote on his Facebook profile that the two had not held an official bilateral meeting, but rather “a brief conversation on the sidelines of the event, in the presence of several colleagues”.

“At the same time, I would like to remind everyone that the use of the term ‘North Macedonian’ in reference to the Macedonian people is inaccurate and inappropriate. Macedonians are Macedonians. This is not a matter of politics, but of basic respect for the identity and dignity of a people,” Mucunski wrote.

Source: BTA