PM Petkov from Skopje: No risks of US sanctions over Bulgaria's position on the Republic of North Macedonia

Bulgaria’s Prime Minister Kiril Petkov is visiting the Republic of North Macedonia on January 18. After the meetings there, he spoke to Bulgarian journalists.

"With our approach we have real results. The Sofia-Skopje air link will become a reality, I hope there will be a plane flight between the two capitals in 60 days," the Bulgarian Prime Minister commented.

After the meeting Petkov - Kovachevski: Skopje said it has no territorial claims on Bulgaria

According to him, through negotiations Bulgaria has managed to speed up the process of negotiations with the Republic of North Macedonia on each of the chapters. As a good sign, he noted that our southwestern neighbour has no territorial claims.

When asked by BNT about structural changes in the joint commission on historical issues, Kiril Petkov, said yes - there will be changes. He added that we will now talk about the things we have already agreed on, not the ones we have not. It was decided to meet at least once a month. The commission now meets three times a year.

There are no risks of US sanctions over Bulgaria's position on the Republic of North Macedonia, Petkov said. He called it fake news.

"We have always thought that our destiny depends on some great power, this is not the case. It all depends on us and the work we will do. What we have today is not a function of anything else, the truth that these few days gave this result for the development of good neighbourliness," Petkov said.

For Bulgaria, the protection of the minorities in the Republic of North Macedonia remains a priority, so that no Bulgarians are harmed in our southwestern neighbour. Nor a different attitude towards them. The Prime Minister announced that he personally would call the Prime Minister of RNM on his mobile phone if there are violations.

Kiril Petkov did not comment on whether there will be replacements in the commission on historical issues. I will talk to Bulgarian historians about their progress and what they think they can make. And then they will decide on changes in its composition.

"There will be no periods in which these groups will not meet. From now on, PM Dimitar Kovachevski and I are committed that no one has the right to withdraw from this commitment," Bulgaria’s PM added.

As soon as possible, there will be an ambassador from the RNM in Sofia, so that "we do not have a gap in diplomatic relations," Petkov explained. He received this promise during his meeting with the Macedonian president.

Kiril Petkov also commented on whether Macedonian history textbooks will be changed.

"We have discussed this issue, we must eliminate hate speech. We expect the results of the commission on historical issues to lead to a change in these textbooks. When we talk about history, we should not talk about separate parts of history. We should talk about a fascist regime, for example, and not for the Bulgarian fascist regime, for example," said PM Petkov.

He also commented on the construction of a railway line between Sofia and Skopje.

"We have not gone into exact details about the financing of the railways, I am very pleased that the two line ministers have entered into communication. It is simply unthinkable in the 21st century not to have a railway connection between the two capitals," Petkov added.

According to the Bulgarian Prime Minister, the new air link will be economically viable in order to operate.

It was also discussed that some of the tourist packages of Bulgaria and the Republic of North Macedonia should be joint in order to attract more visitors.

"What I am very happy about is that the coalition agreement is working. I spoke with the Minister of Culture, Education, Foreign Affairs, Economy, each of them stated his full readiness to stand behind this strategy for the development of our relations with the PNM," Petkov said.

Arriving in Skopje this morning, Kiril Petkov was welcomed by Foreign Minister Bujar Osmani. Later, Petkov spoke with RNM Prime Minister Dimitar Kovachevski.

Today's visit is described as an attempt to restore dialogue between the two countries, after Bulgaria refused to support Skopje's EU negotiating framework for two years due to systematic non-compliance with the 2017 Good neighbourliness and friendship treaty.

During his visit today, the Bulgarian Prime Minister also met with the President of the Republic of North Macedonia Stevo Pendarovski and the Speaker of the Parliament Talat Xhaferi. The Bulgarian delegation included the Minister of Foreign Affairs Teodora Genchovska, the Minister of Transport and Communications Nikolay Sabev and the Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly Christian Vigenin.

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