site.btaSofia Concerned over Situation in Macedonia

Sofia Concerned over Situation in Macedonia

Sofia, April 28 (BTA) - Sofia expressed strong concern Friday over the situation in Macedonia where clashes in and outside Parliament on Thursday night left many injured, including deputies and police officers. The Bulgarian Parliament adopted a declaration condemning the violence and calling for a return to the field of politics. President Rumen Radev, would-be Prime Minister Boyko Borissov, the Foreign Ministry and all major political forces made statements to the same effect.

Two emergency meetings of the security services were held, one late on Thursday and one Friday morning, and both found that the situation in Macedonia poses no immediate risk for Bulgaria. Attending the meetings were the leaders and representatives of the Ministries of the Interior, of Foreign Affairs, of Defence and the security services. 

In a declaration on events in Skopje adopted unanimously by all groups in Parliament, the Bulgarian legislature expressed concern over how the crisis in Macedonia has evolved and slammed the breaking into Parliament and the assault on MPs. "Using violence against MPs is an inadmissible encroachment on Parliament and democracy. Violence cannot be a means for resolving political disputes."  It went on to voice expectations that the President of Macedonia and the leading political forces will take action to bring down the tensions and return to the field of politics. "We call for wisdon and abstaing from all provocations which could escalate the inter-ethnic conflict. It would have grave consequences for Macedonia and affect the stability and prospects for economic and social development of the region."

The declaration further vowed support for the unity and territorial integrity of Macedonia, and expressed Bulgaria's readiness to work during its Presidency of the European Council in 2018, for stepping up the EU accession of the countries in the Western Balkans in order to ensure peace and the development of Southeast Europe.

In a statement Friday morning, President Radev urged all parties in Macedonia to respect the democratic process and go to the negotiating table. "Democracy and the democratic process are the way to resolve a crisis. I believe that the Republic of Macedonia will not swerve from the European values," the President wrote quoted by his Press Secretariat.

Radev also called upon Bulgarian citizens in Macedonia to show
calm.

In a comment for the press, GERB Leader Boyko Borissov called for finding a political solution in Macedonia. He said he is strongly concerned over what is happening in this neighbouring country.

"It is vital, including for Bulgaria, that Macedonia keeps its integrity as a country and continues on the track of Euro-Atlantic integration. It is not good to have such instability across our border," Borissov said.

He said that he put to use his personal connections to tell the politicians in Skopje that "when tensions arise, the way to go is resign, as we have done in Bulgaria, in Italy, in the UK". "You go to elections and then people have the say," Borissov added.
 
On Thursday evening, Borissov talked on the phone to President Gjorge Ivanov at the latter's request, and also discussed the events in Skopje with Nikola Gruevski, and Social Democratic Union of Macedonia leader Zoran Zaev, with whom Borissov says to be good friends despite belonging to different political families.
   
"Very delicately, without meddling in their internal affairs, I urged them all to find a political solution to a crisis which has been simmering for years. There is strong hatred but the feelings of the party leaders should stay in the background," Borissov said.

He said that Bulgaria cannot remain unperturbed when "bloody clashes and such ruthless actions take place in the parliament of a country whose EU and NATO membership aspirations we support with both hands".

"Destabilization is a problem for all Balkans," said the GERB leader.

He also said that it is important that Bulgaria remains a model of stability and that President Radev and himself showed how joint work is possible in the name of Bulgaria.

Foreign Minister Radi Naydenov said in a statement that the use of violence in political crises is deplorable. "We hope that the containment of the immediate crisis will bring about restoring rule of law and normalizing the work of Parliament. [...] We call on all parties, civic associations and institutions to respond [to the situation] with actions that meet the standards of democracy and the common goal of people in Macedonia of European and Euro-Atlantic integration," the statement also said. 

The situation in Macedonia was debated in Parliament prior to the adoption of the declaration.

In a statement on behalf of the United Patriots, co-leader Krassimir Karakachanov said that the Bulgarian government will make a commitment to a policy of appeasing the Balkans. "Bulgaria should initiate and generate such peace initiatives because it is in the best interest of everybody in the Balkans." 

Karakachanov said that Parliament should adopt a declaration stating that no sides should be taken in this political conflict, expressing concern over the situation in the Balkans, calling for noninterference by all neighbouring countries and declaring respect for the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Macedonia. "The matter should not be politicized excessively," the United Patriots' co-leader added. 

In a comment for reporters in Parliament, he voiced disagreement with the position of the caretaker government that the situation in Macedonia poses no immediate threat for Bulgaria and recalled clashes in 2000 when there was a risk for some 100,000 Albanians to enter Bulgaria. "Any civil conflict and international clash in Macedonia carries a risk for the whole region, where the interests of several countries cross." 

Karakachanov also said that there are some 120,000 people with Bulgarian citizenship in Macedonia and hundreds of thousands more with Bulgarian ethnic self-awareness. "This is why I am saying that Bulgaria is not merely an observer," he added.

The Bulgarian Socialist Party said they have moved a draft parliamentary declaration to Parliament's secretarial office and National Assembly Chairman Dimiter Glavchev scheduled a meeting of the parliamentary leadership to discuss the declaration.

Kornelia Ninova also said that "processes which have long been underway in Macedonia and are unlikely to end today, raise the big issue of Bulgaria's national security".

Expressing its own concern over the Skopje events, the Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF) agreed that a common declaration of Parliament is needed. They said that state institutions and politicians in Macedonia should show wisdom and a democratic approach to the problems, and that Bulgarian politicians "must show twice as much wisdom and responsibility for the future". They added that "allowing into government extreme nationalists is dangerous because ethnic peace is torpedoed, sooner or later".