site.btaParliament Hears Foreign Minister in Closed Session on Start of EU Membership Talks with Skopje

At a closed session on Friday, Parliament heard Foreign Minister Teodora Genchovska regarding the start of negotiations between North Macedonia and the European Union.

The item was included on the agenda of the National Assembly at the request of GERB-UDF. It was prompted by statements by Josep Borrell Fontelles, High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security, and German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock suggesting that Bulgaria has allegedly agreed to lift its veto of the launch of EU accession talks with Skopje in the first half of 2022.

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. These conditions stem from Bulgaria's 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.

Emerging from Friday's hearing, Foreign Minister Genchovska took a journalist's question about whether it is possible to make a more significant step in the EU pre-accession process with North Macedonia by the end of the French Presidency of the Council of the European Union, which expires in the middle of 2022. Genchovska commented that the most important thing was for North Macedonia to open its Constitution and add the Bulgarians to the other ethnic groups in the introduction. She doubts that this can be completed by the end of the French EU Presidency.

She told the media that her ministry has not received any official information about holding a second joint meeting of the two countries' governments after the one in January. She denied the existence of a document which Skopje is ready to approve and Sofia is not, as North Macedonia's Foreign Minister Bujar Osmani suggested on Thursday. "No such document has been received officially at our Foreign Ministry," Genchovska said. "The latest round of talks involving the Foreign Ministry team was held on February 10." She added that a protocol was being drafted under Article 12 of the bilateral Treaty of Friendship, Good-neighbourliness and Cooperation. "Sadly, the results are unsatisfactory."

Genchovska went on to tell the journalists that no agreement was reached at her meeting with German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock in Luxembourg on April 11. Genchovska noted: "No understanding was reached. The meeting was held at her request because she wanted to see whether any progress had been made. As always at such meetings until then, Bulgaria's position was acknowledged. Regrettably, it would be hard to say that progress has been achieved on the political issues. There is certainly progress on the sectoral policies, though."

Genchovska admitted that the Foreign Ministry disagrees with Prime Minister Kiril Petkov's foreign policy team as regards North Macedonia. "There are major differences which are delineated on the basis of the national position, to which the Foreign Ministry adheres strictly," she said. Asked to elaborate specifically on apparent differences with the Prime Minister's Foreign Policy Adviser Vessela Cherneva, Genchovska said: "I have never mentioned her name".

She said that deadlines are not being discussed at the Foreign Ministry, but "there are obviously ambitions [to achieve results] by the end of the French EU Presidency, but I want to repeat that the Prime Minister has not stated anything like that". This, she said, "can be inferred from meetings with the North Macedonian side and representatives of EU member states".

Asked whether she is at risk of losing her job, the Foreign Minister said: "To be honest, no such comments have been made. The matter has never been raised, at least not in the government coalition."

Commenting on his alleged differences with the Foreign Minister later in the day, Prime Minister Petkov said: "I have stated repeatedly that the institution which is supposed to formulate Bulgaria's definitive position on North Macedonia is the Bulgarian Parliament. No one can push through any position not endorsed by the Bulgarian Parlliament. Even if the views differ, whatever the approach, ultimately it should be approved by Parliament."

Approached by the media after the closed-door meeting, Democratic Bulgaria floor leader Hristo Ivanov said: "I cannot comment on the hearing, but I can say in principle that, at the level of the government coalition and at the level of distribution of the ministries, which are like fiefdoms controlled by particular parties - yes, we do have a problem in the coalition." Ivanov sees deficiencies in the decision-making mechanism of the ruling majority.

He noted that no proposal has been submitted to revise the Bulgarian position on North Macedonia. "Everything else is just speculation, conspiracy theories, attempted stabs in the back. A change in the Bulgarian position on North Macedonia is only possible after a vote in the National Assembly," he stressed.

Ivanov is unaware of any pressure to replace Teodora Genchovska as Foreign Minister. "Given the current magnitude of structural problems in the government coalition, it is unadvisable to rush the resignation of one minister or another. The problems should be addressed at the systemic level," he said.

National Assembly Deputy Chair Miroslav Ivanov (Continue the Change) said the government has stated on more than one occasion that it adheres to the October 2019 resolution of the National Assembly and the January 2022 conclusions of the Consultative Council on National Security under the President. Asked whether Prime Minister Kiril Petkov differs from Foreign Minister Teodora Genchovska on the matter, Miroslav Ivanov said that under the Constitution the domestic and foreign policies of Bulgaria are determined by the Council of Ministers, not individual ministers.