Deputy PM Karakachanov: Bulgaria was first to recognise Macedonia, but receives outright anti-Bulgarian policy

Bulgaria has done everything possible to give the Republic of North Macedonia a chance to start negotiations for membership in the European Union. We are supportive, but that cannot be unconditional. Bulgaria has stated its firm position – North Macedonia is not ready to start EU accession talks, Bulgaria’s Deputy Prime Minister Krassimir Karakachanov sad on November 18 at a hearing in the Bulgarian Parliament.

"The reason for this is mainly due to the policy that the Republic of North Macedonia has been pursuing for decades towards Bulgaria. I will not go back to the beginning of the 90s, because we all know that Bulgaria was the country that first recognised Macedonia. Thanks to Bulgarian diplomacy, several other countries have recognised it as a sovereign state," the Deputy Prime Minister said.

According to him, however, for all these efforts Bulgaria receives only insincerity, even "outright anti-Bulgarian policy". Karakachanov was adamant that the language of hatred towards Bulgaria in our neighbour is nurtured through the educational system there, and through the media, as well as through their cultural departments through funding for films and various programmes.

"Presenting false and distorted facts from the history of the Bulgarian people, Bulgarians are presented as an enemy and adversary, almost as an enemy of the state, which we were the first to have recognised," said Krassimir Karakachanov.

He also stressed that even Macedonian diplomacy, back in time, has tried to create a negative image of Bulgaria in front of European countries, and through international institutions attempts have been made to impose the thesis of the so-called Macedonian minority in Bulgaria.

In his opinion, even the construction of transport corridor number 8, which is favourable for the direct connection between the Black Sea and the Adriatic, was deliberately blocked.

"We see that the current government is not in a hurry, and some of the representatives of this government, from its previous composition, called it a Bulgarian project, harmful to Macedonian interests," he said.

"The Bulgarian position during the negotiations was based only on the Treaty of Friendship and Good Neighbourliness, on the framework position and confirmed unanimously by the Bulgarian Parliament in the form of a declaration. We have not deviated, we have not compromised with what the Parliament has confirmed as a position. My impression is that during the talks the colleagues from Skopje behaved as if Bulgaria is a candidate to join EU, not them," Karakachanov added.

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