site.btaParliament's Foreign Policy CommitteeSupports Bill to Ratify Friendship Treaty with Macedonia

Sofia, January 17 (BTA) - The parliamentary Foreign Policy Committee Wednesday voted 16-1 in support of the bill to ratify the Treaty of Friendship, Goodneighbourliness and Cooperation with the Republic of Macedonia. The National Assembly is expected to vote on the bill on Thursday.

Plamen Manoushev MP of GERB said that the Treaty's ratification is a historic view on the relations with Macedonia and a sigh of progress. "We must walk forward together with the Republic of Macedonia and support it in its Euro-Atlantic orientation," he added.

Yulian Angelov MP of United Patriots called on the MPs to show that the National Assembly is united and to support the Treaty, because it gives a chance to have normal relations with Macedonia. His colleague Krassimir Bogdanov suggested that the opinion of experts from the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences be considered as well.

During the discussion, Socialist MP Valeri Zhablyanov said that he voted against the ratification of the Treaty, which he described as a failure of Bulgarian diplomacy.

Commenting on the Treaty after the Committee's meeting she attended, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ekaterina Zaharieva said that it opens a new chapter in the history between the two countries, which are so close, and described it as considerable success for Bulgarian diplomacy. The Treaty will help bring the two countries' citizens closer together and facilitate the opening of joint economic and educational projects. This is an example of how the Balkans can solve their problems alone, she noted. The Bulgarian top diplomat voiced hope that the debate in plenary will be held constructively, recalling that the Bulgarian and Macedonian prime ministers signed the Treaty after the Bulgarian Parliament unanimously gave Prime Minister Boyko Borissov a mandate to do so.