site.btaUPDATED EU Enlargement towards Western Balkans Discussed at BTA Club in Skopje

Politicians, diplomats and experts discussed the EU's expected enlargement with Albania and North Macedonia and the Bulgarians' views on the matter at a discussion of the BTA Bulgarian Voices for Europe series held in Skopje on Friday.

The start of accession talks with the two candidate countries is planned on the agenda of the June 23 EU-Western Balkans leaders' meeting. Bulgaria blocks the start of accession talks with North Macedonia on the grounds that Skopje must take practical steps towards resolving the outstanding bilateral issues, including the Bulgarians' rights in North Macedonia and hate speech against Bulgaria. 

Friday's discussion was held at BTA's National Press Club in Skopje. Through the European Parliament-backed Bulgarian Voices for Europe project, BTA seeks out the voices of Bulgarians in and outside Bulgaria. It is part of the Conference on the Future of Europe, co-chaired by the presidents of the European Parliament, the EU Council and the European Commission. The discussion in Skopje was livestreamed on the social networks.

BTA Director General Kiril Valchev: The EU is everywhere where there are European citizens, and with more than 100,000 Bulgarians declaring that they consider themselves Bulgarian in North Macedonia, we believe it is normal to include them in the debate on the EU's future. We hope that through this kind of discussion, we are taking our experience here to North Macedonia. It is particularly important that North Macedonia should feel part of the EU values, and the greatest value is that each EU citizen has the same rights as the other citizens. The hypocritical policy of EU semi-enlargements with one country or another must stop. Bulgaria also suffers from this hypocritical policy about Schengen because it turns out that the freedom of movement without border controls is not for everyone. The same rules should apply across the board, instead of having different speeds.

Bulgarian Ambassador in Skopje Angel Angelov: We need modernization of the Western Balkan societies so that they can break with the dogmas of the past. The integration of Montenegro, Albania and North Macedonia in NATO has enhanced the security of the whole region. We want to get guarantees from Skopje that it will observe the Treaty of Friendship, Good-neighbourliness and Cooperation of 2017. We can see that the guarantees we requested for the Bulgarian minority in Albania are honoured. We are ready to greenlight the EU accession talks with Tirana. Whether this will be done together with, or separately from, North Macedonia is a matter of talks, whose outcome we are yet to see.

Ambassador David Gere, Head of the EU Delegation to Macedonia: The EU institutions are strongly committed to the start of talks with North Macedonia and Albania during the French EU Council Presidency. We appreciate the efforts both countries are making to achieve this. This will be a significant success not just for North Macedonia but for Albania and the broader region and Europe as well. Given all the crises and social tensions, we have an interest to start this process now. The EU accession of the countries of the Western Balkans is our priority.

MEP Angel Dzhambazki (European Conservatives and Reformists Group/VMRO): Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama will make a statement on the separation of Albania and North Macedonia in the process of EU accession talks. After a difficult conversation with Rama, we agreed that there is no reason whatsoever for Albania to be coupled with North Macedonia or to wait. In this way the instrument of pressure on Bulgaria through Albania will disappear very soon and we will be able to conduct talks with North Macedonia quite comfortably. The government in Skopje will have to do something at last, to start honouring the Treaty of Friendship with Bulgaria. It will have to start acting against the anti-Bulgarian hate speech, which poisons bilateral relations.

MEP Ilhan Kyuchyuk (Renew Europe/MRF): It is important that Europe should consolidate within the core, but it is just as important that it should look beyond its geography, beyond the 27 countries, and seek enlargement opportunities. If the EU does not opt to enlarge towards the Western Balkans, third countries will get involved because there is no vacuum in international relations. Europe should not be the dwarf or one of the dwarfs in international relations, it should be the big geopolitical player.

Bulgaria's Parliamentary Culture and Media Committee Chairman Toshko Yordanov: Two-speed Europe is bad. I believe that Europe should move towards some form of federalization, make quick decisions and embrace equality without losing its national diversity. It is deeply unfair to guilt-trip us about EU enlargement now, although we do not enjoy all the European citizens' rights. We should be able to rely on our partners the way they rely on us. If we are loyal and predictable, our European partners should also be loyal and predictable. In the process of Sofia-Skopje talks they should side with Bulgaria, which is their ally and member, instead of exerting pressure on Bulgaria and supporting a country which is not an EU member and is not honouring the bilateral treaty.