Bulgaria’s Foreign Minister: Republic of North Macedonia will have a place in the EU when it is ready

The Republic of North Macedonia will have a place in the European Union when it is ready. At the moment, Bulgaria does not consider that it is ready, Bulgaria’s Foreign Minister Ekaterina Zaharieva told BNT on November 17, during her participation in the “The Day Begins” programme.

She said that at this stage Bulgaria cannot support the negotiating framework of the Republic of North Macedonia for membership in the European Union. Zaharieva explained that Skopje did not meet the conditions set out in the friendship agreement.

The video conference of the ministers of European affairs of the EU countries will be held today.

Minister Zaharieva clarified that no decisions are made at the council itself. "In all discussions of the negotiating framework, Bulgaria expressed the same position and it is that at this stage it could not approve the negotiating framework," Zaharieva stressed.

"In March, Bulgaria agreed to start negotiations with the Republic of North Macedonia. There is an explicit reference and recommendation in the council's decision, at Bulgaria's insistence, for progress in the implementation of the neighbourhood and co-operation agreement. What at the moment had to be approved, but because we do not see our concerns and the negotiating framework cannot be approved. It is not the debate now whether to start negotiations or not," Zaharieva recalled.

She said there was "an awful lot of misleading information" in the media in the Republic of North Macedonia.

Zaharieva was adamant that until she saw Bulgaria’s concerns in the negotiating framework, the country could not support it. And they are very simple, she said.

"They are three main things - adherence to the language formula - in 1999, then confirmed in 2017, roadmap for the implementation of the agreement, to be monitored throughout the negotiation process and an explicit text that there will be no claims for Macedonian minority in Bulgaria," the Foreign Minister said.

"Bulgarian diplomacy cannot afford to pursue a policy of "smearing " a neighbouring country, such as we see being pursued unfortunately by Skopje. We are a member of the EU, we cannot afford that," Zaharieva was adamant.

According to her, the problem is that good neighbourly relations is a horizontal criterion. "A candidate country must adhere to and implement in good faith the treaties it has signed. We have a long list of cases in which the Republic of North Macedonia has signed something with Bulgaria and then failed to implement”, she said.

Zaharieva described anti-Bulgarianism in recent months as unacceptable.

There is a risk that Bulgarians will fall into isolation because of their position towards the Republic of North Macedonia, MP Yavor Bojankov from the opposition socialist party (BSP) said in "The Day Begins" programme. The foreign minister disagreed with the opposition. She explained that Bulgaria has repeatedly raised the issues, but they have not been heard by Skopje.