Opposition GERB will support the French proposal on solving the dispute with Skopje, Foreign Policy Committee in Parliament did not discuss the documents (update)

GERB will support the so-called "French proposal" for resolving the Sofia-Skopje dispute. This was announced by party leader Boyko Borissov at a special press conference on June 22. His argument is that he trusts France and the European Commission. Later, the Foreign Affairs Committee in Parliament, which was to discuss the package of documents and a special bilateral protocol to it, postponed its meeting with the votes of GERB, Movement for Rights and Freedoms, “There is Such a People” and "Vazrazhdane". They insisted that the government table a decision on the case to be discussed. BNT has sight of the protocol, which foresees measures before, during and after the possible start of Skopje's negotiations with the EU on a package of issues.

The GERB MPs will support the French proposal for the start of North Macedonia's negotiations with the EU if it enters the Parliament. According to party leader Boyko Borissov, the proposal is very good and will help the enlargement process with the Western Balkans. Borissov called on Prime Minister Kiril Petkov to take courage and immediately convene a meeting of the Council of Ministers on the issue.

"If he dares, there will be 59 GERB MPs in favour of giving the green light for the start of the EU accessions talks of North Macedonia and Albania. So he should immediately convene the Council of Ministers, give proposals, come to the Parliament. We give him the opportunity to go to Brussels, not to shame Bulgaria, not to point the finger at us as a dark entity, but on the contrary - as a Euro-Atlantic country, now is the time to show this", said Boyko Borissov, GERB Chair.

Hours later the Foreign Policy Committee in the National Assembly was to hear Minister Teodora Genchovska, who was to explain how the Bulgarian interest is protected in a special bilateral protocol between Sofia and Skopje - part of the possible negotiating framework of the Republic of North Macedonia with the EU.

"We are coming as experts to assist the work of the Foreign Policy Committee, we expect bold decisions, the chairwoman of the Commission will give a statement to see what they have done", said Teodora Genchovska, minister of foreign affairs.

From the very beginning, MRF MP Stanislav Anastasov proposed that the meeting be postponed because there is no draft decision of the Council of Ministers to consider the issue.

"The ministry has sent absolutely everything possible. What we are missing is a decision of the Council of Ministers," said Stanislav Anastasov of the MRF.

"What is happening here at the moment is a kind of circus and crisis PR, in my opinion. I am sorry to say it. Also, I understood that you sent a letter to the foreign minister to submit a draft decision to the National Assembly. Madam Speaker, the Foreign Minister is not one of the bodies that can and have legislative initiative. It is the Council of Ministers and the MPs," said Ekaterina Zaharieva from GERB.

"You - from TISP, from GERB and from “Vazrazhdane” - have tried to misuse the topic 'Republic of North Macedonia' in the recent weeks. And now all this discussion, which we should have had and see where we are and what are the next steps, you have hidden it from the Bulgarian citizens", said Christian Vigenin from the BSP for Bulgaria.

"The Council of Ministers and the prime minister are trying to escape. Having worked against Bulgaria's national interest for so long, let him drink his bitter cup, propose a solution, after which I will gladly watch how you and GERB and MRF will vote together," said Toshko Yordanov of "There is Such a People".

"What we saw this morning in the hall, we saw it here in the committee. The securing of quorum failed so that a new Speaker of Parliament could not be elected, we saw the new coalition in action again, I cannot understand why Minister Genchovska was hidden, given that she is a member of the Council of Ministers. Both GERB and the MRF said - we want the Council of Ministers. She is from the Council of Ministers. When she came, they refused to hear her," said Nastimir Ananiev of “We Continue the Change”.

"We will call an extraordinary sitting. We will specify exactly when, so that this discussion can be held," said Ventsislava Lyubenova (from “We Continue the Change”), chairwoman of the Parliament’s Foreign Policy Committee.

"This proposal of the French presidency of the Council of the EU, which everyone agrees is good, we may miss it. It risks no longer being on the table. And then it would be a national betrayal and I just want to ask GERB whether they actually support because they want us to find the best solution, or whether they are imitating support, hoping that through procedural moves they will not be able to reach a solution at all," said Hristo Ivanov of “Democratic Bulgaria”.

"Why is this proposal so bad for us? For a very simple reason. Simply, it seizes the initiative and now we turn from a subject into an object of negotiations," said Kostadin Kostadinov, chairman of "Vazrazhdane".

"We, the Macedonian Bulgarians, want something very simple - a solution to the problem between Macedonia and Bulgaria in such a way that the national interests of the Bulgarian people are protected and our dignity as Bulgarians is defended," said Petar Kolev, chairman of "Civic Democratic Union" – Republic of North Macedonia.

The draft protocol on which Sofia and Skopje have been negotiating has not been signed by either side. The document stipulates that two years after it is signed, the texts on which the joint Commission on Historical Issues has already found a compromise should be reflected in the history textbooks, and a formula for the Middle Ages should be found within a year. By Skopje's eventual EU accession, all disputed historical periods are to be clarified. There are measures on hate speech, monuments, the rights of Bulgarians and the rehabilitation of victims of the Yugoslav communist regime.

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