site.btaForeign Ministry Dismisses Suspicions of Backstage Deal to Lift Bulgarian Veto on Skopje's EU Accession Talks

The Bulgarian Foreign Ministry Tuesday dismissed suspicions of a backstage deal for lifting the Bulgarian veto on the start of Skopje's EU accession talks and said in a statement that this country's position on the matter remains unchanged. The Ministry said that its statement was connected with "false information in some news outlets".

Bulgaria has refused to agree to the start of the EU entry talks of North Macedonia before it ends hate speech against Bulgaria, the distortion of historic facts and the discrimination against its citizens of Bulgarian descent.

Following a EU Foreign Affairs Council in Luxembourg on April 11, press reports in Bulgaria suggested that Foreign Minister Teodorva Genchovska may have promised to German counterpart Annalena Baerbock that Bulgaria would lift unconditionally the Bulgarian veto to allow the start of EU accession negotiations with North Macedonia and Albania. Angel Djambazki, a Bulgarian member of the European Parliament, whose VMRO party is one of the most vocal opponents to the opening of EU accession talks with Skopje, even called for Genchovska's resignation should the rumours about a deal be confirmed.

The Foreign Ministry said Tuesday: "Bulgaria continues to adhere to the framework position on EU enlargement and the process of stabilization and association of the Republic of North Macedonia and Albania of October 9, 2019, which was unanimously supported by a declaration of Parliament on October 10, 2019 and by the Consultative Council on National Security [with the President] on January 10, 2022. Support for EU enlargement into the Western Balkans remains a priority of the Bulgarian foreign policy as the own-merits principle and the adherence to the fundamental values of the Union, uncluding respect for human rights and goodneighbourliness remain of key importance. Foreign Minister Teodora Genchovska reconfirmed the Bulgarian position during her meeting with the German Foreign Minister during the Foreign Affairs Council in Luxembourg on Monday."

The statement further says that achieving irreversible results in maintaining goodneighbourly relations and obtaining clear guarantees for further implementation of the 2017 goodneighbourliness treaty between Sofia and Skopje are of key importance for the start of accession talks with North Macedonia. "We expect constitutional guarantees for the rights of Bulgarians in North Macedonia," said the Foreign Ministry.

In conclusion, the Ministry says that results rather than deadlines are of paramount importance for Bulgaria.