MPs with strong reactions after PM of North Macedonia's statement on Bulgaria

Bulgarian MPs criticised the statement of North Macedonia’s Prime Minister, Dimitar Kovachevski, from May 17, in which he compared Bulgaria's attitude towards North Macedonia with Russia's attitude towards Ukraine.

Prime Minister of North Macedonia publicly attacked Bulgaria at an international forum

"Yesterday the prime minister of the Republic of North Macedonia publicly attacked Bulgaria. This raises the level of tension. We have not stopped showing the many provocations. The violation of human rights and the undisguised hate speech shows that the political class has no intention of honouring agreements," said Pavela Miteva of “There is Such a People”.

Georg Georgiev of GERB-UDF stressed that Bulgaria has made a serious investment in the relations between the two countries.

"We have come to a point where Bulgarians are being beaten to death just because of their national identity, but also to a point where Bulgaria is being compared to the biggest aggressor of our time. Colleagues, this is a time when we should seriously reflect on where we have started and where we have reached and what our international policy and diplomacy has led to."

This rhetoric is familiar, it is not new, commented the leader of "Vazrazhdane" party, Kostadin Kostadinov.

"It is not new, the truth is that North Macedonia to a large extent exists as a state thanks to Bulgaria and in this line of thought such statements are outright provocations. We have to start speaking the truth out loud, of course, we will provoke backbiting from our Macedonian partners, but this should not stop us, because after all we are a member of the EU, they are not, and they want to join the EU," he said.

"This rhetoric is absolutely inappropriate, but I am sure that the Foreign Ministry will take the appropriate steps. I think it is right to take a stance, but it has to be done carefully so that the escalation does not continue. It is clear that when one side escalates, the other can very easily escalate too. It is to the benefit of both sides to reduce the tension," said Nikolay Denkov from WCC-DB.

According to Atanas Atanasov from WCC-DB, in this complicated situation "Russian and Serbian agents are doing everything necessary to drive a wedge into the EU and prevent North Macedonia from entering the EU".