Vigenin: President Radev's Visit to Macedonia was Extremely Successful

During President Radev's visit to Macedonia, there was pragmatism and a sense of opening a new page in the relations of the two countries, Kristian Vigenin, secretary of the BSP for Bulgaria and a former Minister of Foreign Affairs said on 19^th of February. He was a member of the Bulgarian delegation.

This was the first visit since the ratification of the Friendship, Good Neighbourly Relations and Cooperation Agreement. We saw change in the attitude of both the political leaders, the political class, and the attitude of the people. Fear has vanished, people want to expand cooperation with Bulgaria, continued Vigenin.

According to him, after the signing of the agreement, the trade between Bulgaria and Macedonia increased by 10% and the tourist flow increased significantly in both directions.

This shows that this agreement has direct consequences in real life. If the trend remains, we can only anticipate positive days in our relationship from now on, the left-wing MP predicted.

He reminded that this visit was the first visit of President Radev to Bulgaria’s neighbouring country and the first visit within the Bulgarian Presidency of the Council of the EU.

The Strategic Partnership Treaty, initiated by the Presidents of Bulgaria and Macedonia, will be the next step in building our relations. The core of this treaty will be cooperation in the field of security and defence. It can be filled with great content, especially since the Republic of Macedonia is not yet a member of NATO. There are stumbling blocks in this respect, at least at this stage, Vigenin said.

In his view, President Radev's visit to Macedonia has been extremely successful.