site.btaPresident Radev: North Macedonia Is Yet to Open Door to EU Accession Negotiations

When asked to comment on Macedonian President Stevo Pendarovski's proposal to his country's government to ban the entry into his country of a Bulgarian MEP and an unspecified number of other Bulgarian citizens, Bulgarian President Rumen Radev said on Tuesday that "North Macedonia is yet to open the door" to EU accession negotiations. Radev, who was at the Central Military Club in Sofia, added, "Now you understand why I fought so hard for the rights of the Macedonian Bulgarians to be protected in the Constitution of that country [North Macedonia] and for this to be a mandatory condition for the start of the negotiations".

The Bulgarian President stated that it is no longer enough for Macedonian institutions to prove that they are not part of the anti-Bulgarian campaign. "It is high time to prove that they are actively fighting this campaign," he said.

Radev assured the reporters that all European mechanisms will be activated so that the anti-Bulgarian hatred and hysteria in North Macedonia will be brought to an end.