Foreign Minister Genchovska: Bulgaria’s position on Republic of North Macedonia will not change, this is not a football match

Bulgaria's position on the opening of negotiations of the Republic of North Macedonia with the EU is clear and cannot be changed at the upcoming General Affairs Council, Bulgaria’s Foreign Minister Teodora Genchovska said on May 18, reagarding today's statement by North Macedonia’s Foreign Minister, Bujar Osmani, that the ball is in Bulgaria's "court and our country does not have a clear and unified position on the Republic of North Macedonia", BGNES reported.

"The Foreign Minister of the Republic of North Macedonia Bujar Osmani has been a lot in the media and talks all the time. This is not a tennis match or a football match to talk about which team has the ball or in which field the ball is. Our position is very clear, we have a national consensus on this. I don't know in what clearer way to explain it to Mr Osmani," Minister Genchovska said.

Teodora Genchovska was firm that the Bulgarian position could not be changed at the General Affairs Council. She rejected accusations made by Prime Minister Dimitar Kovacevski that Bulgaria had taken North Macedonia and Albania hostage.

"They are not fulfilling their contract, we need specifics. We have lost 5 months already in talking and interviews. We are waiting for them to start implementing the contract", she said.