site.btaPresident Radev: Bulgaria Must Continue to Block North Macedonia’s EU Accession Talks until We Have Guarantees Our Interest Is Protected

Bulgaria must continue its veto policy on the start of North Macedonia’s negotiations for EU membership until we receive clear guarantees that out interests will be protected, said President Rumen Radev on Thursday in response to a journalistic question about the recent population census in North Macedonia, according to which 3,504 people have identified themselves as Bulgarians.

Rumen Radev pointed out that it is no coincidence that he advised all European leaders and heads of European institutions to monitor what is happening with the census in North Macedonia, because Bulgaria has been receiving many alerts of violations. This is another proof that Macedonian Bulgarians in North Macedonia are deprived of rights and do not dare to openly declare that they are Bulgarians, given that here [ie, in Bulgaria, in order to obtain Bulgarian citizenship] over 120,000 have proven with a document of origin that they are Bulgarians, according to the President.

The head of State also noted that after numerous talks with EU Commissioner for Neighbourhood and Enlargement Policy Olivér Várhelyi, with whom he spoke again in Sofia today, steps have been made toward realizing that there is a problem, and that clear concrete actions should be taken to address the issues related to the rights of Macedonian Bulgarians and their constitutional recognition, to eradicate the language of hatred, to revise textbooks, plaques in museums, and monuments so that young people in North Macedonia are not educated in the spirit of hatred towards Bulgaria, and to preserve our cultural and historical heritage.

“We have made some progress; these problems, thanks to the joint work done and Bulgaria’s persistence, are already recognized and are becoming more and more a commitment of the EU,” said the President. He added that the question is what mechanisms and tools should be used to ensure the protection of Bulgaria’s interests. President Radev expects the Bulgarian government to categorically protect our national interest.

President Radev and Sofia Mayor Yordanka Fandakova attended a crisis response training of students from schools in the capital in Sofia Municipality’s training ground in the region of Pancharevo.