President Iotova: There Would Be No Progress in EU Accession Talks with North Macedonia until Bulgarians Are Included in the Country’s Constitution

Meeting with European Council President Antonio Costa on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference on February 13, Bulgarian President, Iliana Iotova, said that there would be no progress in European Union accession talks with North Macedonia until Bulgarians are included in the country’s constitution. This is not only Bulgaria’s position, but long-standing European policy, the Bulgarian President said.

The meeting between Iotova and Costa focused on EU enlargements in the Western Balkans.

The Bulgarian President noted the alarming signals that North Macedonia's power holders are trying to find a lobby among EU countries to circumvent the first cluster of accession negotiations, at the basis of which are human rights.

"There is no way Bulgaria would agree to such a change. I hope that by the next EU-Western Balkans Summit in June, a solution will be find to the matter of North Macedonia, if the country still wants to join the Union," she noted.

At the Munich conference, Yotova also met Nikolay Mladenov, High Representative for Gaza at the Board of Peace established by US President Donald Trump.

“Mr Mladenov assured me that more clarity on how the Board of Peace will function will emerge at the meeting in Washington on 19 February,” she said.

Asked at what level Bulgaria would be represented at that meeting, Iotova replied that it was difficult to say.

“I will not attend, as on that date I must issue decrees for the appointment of a caretaker government and the scheduling of parliamentary elections,” she told Bulgarian journalists.

The conference brings together nearly 50 heads of state and government to review foreign policy challenges and security policy. Bulgaria is represented at the forum by outgoing Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov and outgoing Foreign Minister Georg Georgiev.