Bulgaria's Foreign Minister comments on Ukraine's request for accelerated NATO accession

Bulgaria’s caretaker Foreign Minister, Nikolay Milkov, described the declaration with which the leaders of 9 Central and Eastern European countries support Ukraine's accelerated accession to NATO as a risky initiative and "a bit preliminary".

He pointed out that NATO Secretary General, Jens Stoltenberg, uses extremely moderate communication on the issue and Bulgaria's positions stick to this rhetoric.

"I don't see any real benefit - we could have supported this declaration from which nothing follows. If we did not support it, nothing would follow. We also see that a number of other countries such as the US, France, Germany, Italy, the UK stick to Stoltenberg's communication," Milkov said.

He reminded that such decisions require a summit format of the 30 NATO member states. Such a meeting is forthcoming, so these issues will be raised there

Presidency: Decision on Ukraine's accession to NATO should be taken only after clear parameters for the peaceful settlement of the conflict are worked out

Moreover, Ukraine's request for accelerated accession to NATO has not yet been circulated among member states, he added.

"NATO clearly states that it will not become part of the hostilities in Ukraine - this is a framework thesis in which all issues are resolved. So the action of these countries is a bit risky not to cause cracks, and our strength is in our unity," Milkov said.

He added that Bulgaria's reaction might give some people arguments to say that we are not consistent in our support to Ukraine and in response to this he read a letter of thanks from a representative of the Ukrainian authorities for the firm and consistent support.

Nikolay Milkov also reminded that Bulgaria strongly condemns Russia's illegal annexation of occupied territories through signed "treaties" and considers this a violation of international law.

Bulgaria's accession to Schengen

Foreign Minister Nikolay Milkov said that he expects the European Parliament today to come up with a new resolution in support of Bulgaria and Romania's accession to Schengen, which should be approved by an overwhelming majority and propose to the EU Council to ratify the country’s membership in the Schengen area.

Bulgaria will soon be visited by the inspection mission. At the moment, the Netherlands is refusing to send a representative to the mission.

"In the committee, experts have nominated 15 countries, including France, Germany, Sweden, Denmark - countries that until recently we could qualify as "not very enthusiastic" about Bulgaria’s Schengen membership. However, the question of appointing experts from the Netherlands remains open. Their refusal makes us be in constant dialogue with them. We believe that their non-participation may be linked to the possibility that they will not recognise the conclusions of the committee, all the more so given their previous assessments that the scope of the mission was incomplete. Their commitment to participate would be a prerequisite for them to work for the success of the commission's mission," said Nikolay Milkov.

Sofia-Skopje relations

The Foreign Minister also commented on the tensions in North Macedonia related to the upcoming opening of the club of the civil association "King Boris III", scheduled for October 7.

"If the name Tsar Boris III is a problem, the name Josip Broz Tito of a high school in Skopje is no lesser problem. I don't know why there are all these attempts to see relations between Bulgaria and North Macedonia as a zero-sum game. This is not a football match in which one wins and the other loses. Diplomacy is more complicated than a football match and there can be two winning sides, which is the aim. However, there can also be two losing sides. These are the things that need to be understood by all those who speak and make statements," Milkov said.

He expressed confidence that the authorities in North Macedonia will guarantee the rights of all, including the people with Bulgarian identity there, so he does not expect any problems on this issue.