site.btaPresident Radev: Bulgaria Expects Skopje to Protect Rights of Citizens Openly Expressing Their Bulgarian National Identity

Sofia, March 26 (BTA) - Addressing an expert discussion held at
his initiative here on Friday, President Rumen Radev said that
North Macedonia's progress towards full EU membership is a
strategic goal for Bulgaria, but this goal's achievement depends
 on North Macedonia's readiness and political will to implement
the membership criteria and respect the rights of those citizens
 who openly express their Bulgarian national identify. The
discussion's topic was the state and prospects of the
development of Bulgaria-North Macedonia relations, the head of
State's press secretariat said.

Participating in the discussion were Vice President Iliana
Iotova, scholars, experts, diplomats, and journalists.
 
Radev said that the solution of the bilateral issues between
Sofia and Skopje requires political will, an active
institutional dialogue, and the achievement of irreversibility
in the building of goodneighbourly relations.
 
According to him, the role of the State and the public media in
North Macedonia is of key importance for creating a new climate
in bilateral ties. In his words, another important aspect is
putting a stop to hate speech against Bulgaria as well as to
media and public campaigns that stigmatize those who have
preserved their Bulgarian self-awareness despite the pressure
and repressions in the totalitarian past. Radev called for an
end to the falsification of historical sources and literary
works, and for correspondence to the original historical sources
 and to the historical truth of the texts in textbooks, on
historical monuments, as well as on the official websites of
scientific, educational and cultural institutions.
  
The participants in the discussion agreed that it is of key
importance for the development of bilateral ties to put a stop
to the discrimination against those in North Macedonia who
openly express their Bulgarian national identity. According to
Radev, the frequent cases of infringement on their rights
constitute a violation of the Copenhagen criteria for EU
membership.
 
According to the participants in the meeting, disregarding a
series of aspects of the bilateral Treaty of Friendship, Good
Neighbourliness and Cooperation creates doubt in North
Macedonia's declared wish to build goodneighbourly relations
with Bulgaria.

NV/DS