site.btaForeign Minister Zaharieva: Bulgaria Is Currently Unable to Approve Negotiating Framework for North Macedonia

October 28 (BTA) - Taking a reporter's question here on Wednesday, Foreign Minister Ekaterina Zaharieva said that at present, Bulgaria is not able to approve the negotiating framework for North Macedonia in the form it is currently being presented in. She was approached by journalists ahead of her participation in a meeting of the parliamentary Foreign Policy Committee.

Zaharieva recalled that the negotiating framework is on the agenda of a General Affairs Council scheduled for November 10.

The Foreign Minister said that the 2017 Treaty of Friendship, Goodneighbourliness and Cooperation between Bulgaria and North Macedonia contains all necessary guarantees, provided it is scrupulously implemented by both countries, but Bulgaria's assessment is that this is not the case. In her words, despite the many speculations in Macedonian media, Bulgaria has neither wanted constitutional changes nor made new demands or disputed the right to self-determination. "The problem is that, according to us, the Treaty is not being scrupulously implemented," she said.

Zaharieva noted that the teams of the two countries' foreign ministries hold daily talks in an attempt to solve the conflict matters so as to look towards the future more. "We have time but it is very limited," she added. "They should acknowledge the past the way we acknowledge the reality," Zaharieva said.

NV/DS
/ДЛ/