Bulgaria’s President: Over the past years, I have invited President Pendarovski to visit Bulgaria at least 10 times, my door is open to him

Bulgaria’s President Rumen Radev on April 12 responded to President of North Macedonia, Stevo Pendarovski, for his statement in an interview with Sittel, in which Pendarovski said that in the past two years, he has not had a single constructive conversation with his Bulgarian counterpart. Rumen Radev replied that he had invited the president of the Republic of North Macedonia to Bulgaria at least 10 times.

Commenting on the thesis of the President of the Republic of North Macedonia Stevo Pendarovski, President Rumen Radev made it clear that the reason for this is not the Bulgarian side, which has done everything possible to help the neighbouring country, thus making life easier for the people on the other side of the border.

"Over the past years, I have invited the President of North Macedonia to visit Bulgaria at least 10 times. You know that the only visit was on October 1 at the opening ceremony of the Greece-Bulgaria interconnector and even then I spoke with the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, so that the Republic of North Macedonia could receive financial assistance from the EU for the purchase of electricity," Rumen Radev said.

In his interview with Sittel, Stevo Pendarovski also stated that in the history of the European Union there has never been such a blockage as Sofia applied to Skopje and addressed his Bulgarian counterpart with the words "You are not who you think you are".

"I understand the pain of the President of North Macedonia that I was the person who two years ago for the first time raised the issue of the rights of the Macedonian Bulgarians before his European colleagues and European institutions. I was the person who managed to work with all European leaders and institutions so that the inclusion of the Macedonian Bulgarians in the Constitution became a mandatory condition for the start of negotiations. And I hope that the President of North Macedonia will realise that this is helpful for his country. So that he breaks with the ideologies of the totalitarian past and moves forward to democratise the country. My door is always open to him, so he is welcome," Radev said.

Pendarovski's thesis that the opening of Bulgarian cultural clubs in the Republic of North Macedonia is an organised provocation from Sofia was commented by the Bulgarian caretaker Foreign Minister.

"Whether they are deliberately trying to raise tensions, I don't know. But what I would also say is that since the so-called "European proposal" was adopted, which was accepted by the whole European Union, by Bulgaria and by the Republic of North Macedonia at the parliamentary level, I do not see a single step that has been taken in the direction of its implementation or in the implementation of the treaty. Neither the textbooks nor anything, let alone other steps that should have been", said Nikolai Milkov, caretaker Minister of Foreign Affairs.

- Is it that Bulgarian cultural clubs there are being closed instead of being supported in their development?

- Exactly, this is an element of mounting tension.

- So the steps are backwards, not forwards?

- Yes, undoubtedly, yes. We have commented on this many times with them, Nikolai Milkov added.

Stevo Pendarovski's interview also has repercussions in the Republic of North Macedonia. The chairman of the Bulgarian Cultural Club "Ivan Mihailov" in Bitola sent an open letter to Pendarovski, in which he hinted that the inclusion of Bulgarians n the country's constitution is an insistence of all EU member states.