President Radev: Bulgaria expects North Macedonia to translate its numerous promises into results

Bulgaria expects the numerous promises of the Republic of North Macedonia to start turning into results that will strengthen mutual trust and create sustainable preconditions for the development of good neighbourly relations, Bulgaria’s President Rumen Radev said on March 31. He met with EU Commissioner for Neighbourhood and Enlargement, Olivér Várhelyi, at the Presidency. Vice President, Iliana Iotova, also took part in the meeting.

Only real progress in the bilateral dialogue with Bulgaria and the fulfilment of the Copenhagen criteria for EU membership can bring the process of European integration for our south-western neighbour forward, the Head of State said.

Rumen Radev underlined that Bulgaria highly appreciates the contribution of the European Commission and the Commissioner for Enlargement and Neighbourhood to intensifying the bilateral dialogue between Bulgaria and the Republic of North Macedonia. Our country expects this dialogue to lead to specific steps regarding the provision of constitutional guarantees for the real respect of the rights of the Macedonian Bulgarians, stopping hate speech against Bulgaria and Bulgarians, the preservation of the centuries-old Bulgarian cultural and historical heritage on the territory of the RNM, before giving consent for the start of negotiations on the RNM's EU membership, Radev added.

The new dynamics in the relations between Bulgaria and the RNM is a positive sign for both countries, as together with the development of common economic, transport and investment projects, the pending issues in the bilateral relations should be resolved, Rumen Radev further said. He stressed that these decisions should have specific indicators and mechanisms that would take into account the readiness of the RNM to start membership negotiations.

Commissioner Várhelyi, expressed the European Commission's understanding of the importance of the pending issues between Bulgaria and the RNM and confirmed his readiness to continue working for their sustainable resolution.

He also highlighted the RNM government's stated readiness to achieve results in the bilateral dialogue with Bulgaria, including with regard to the provision of constitutional guarantees for the respect of the rights of the Macedonian Bulgarians.