At a news briefing here on Friday, caretaker Foreign Minister Nikolay Milkov said that his Ministry has analysed the European Commission’s (EC) report on the progress made by the Republic of North Macedonia towards EU integration and how the document assesses the situation in that country. “At this stage we can say that not all of our remarks have been taken into view,” Milkov noted, which he regards as a red flag showing Bulgaria should continue clarifying its positions and a lot of work needs to be done on the European plain to defend Bulgaria’s positions on the situation in North Macedonia.
The EC’s report is part of its 2022 Enlargement Package adopted on October 12, which provides a detailed assessment of the state of play and the progress made by Skopje on its path towards the EU.
Milkov also said at the briefing: “We are working on the open issues so that the Republic of North Macedonia can continue on its path to European membership. On the other hand, we are fighting to preserve the rights of people with Bulgarian self-awareness, to guarantee their rights and the Bulgarian national interest.”
The Bulgarian Foreign Minister also commented on the protest during the opening of Bulgarian cultural club King Boris III in Ohrid on October 7 and the attack against the club on October 12. The Foreign Ministry has condemned the act of vandalism, he recalled. In his words, the processes in the Republic of North Macedonia need to ferment. This is a matter that will continue for long, just like the country’s integration in the EU, Milkov noted.
Five years after the formation of the Joint Intergovernmental Commission under the bilateral Treaty of Friendship, Good-neighbourliness and Cooperation, its work remains blocked in the Middle Ages, he went on to say. The recent events in Ohrid and the overall atmosphere confirm that there is no progress.
In his words, this overall atmosphere is also fed by the fact that certain people taught in this spirit for decades consider North Macedonia’s creation after World War II as part of Yugoslavia but primarily as a result of the communist partisan movement on the territory of the former kingdom. That is exploited today for anti-Bulgarian purposes. “This is an obvious situation which we should strive to overcome, but the instruments available are limited because the authorities in the Republic of North Macedonia should do more on the matter,” Milkov commented.
A total of BGN 800,000 has been approved for the Bulgarian communities abroad under the 2022 budget, the Foreign Minister recalled. The money will support the organizations of Bulgarian communities in Albania, Serbia, Kosovo, Moldova, Ukraine, as well as of citizens in North Macedonia who have Bulgarian self-awareness.
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