site.btaMutual Trust between Bulgaria, North Macedonia Must Be Restored - MEP Kyuchyuk

February 18 (BTA) - Bulgarian MEP Ilhan Kyuchyuk conferred here with the Republic of North Macedonia's President, Stevo Pendarovski, Prime Minister Zoran Zaev, Foreign MInister Bujar Osmani, Deputy Prime MInister Nikola Dimitrov, Minister Goran Milevski and the leader of the opposition party Hristijan Mickoski during a working visit to Skopje, the Movement for Rights and Freedoms' delegation to the Renew Europe group in the European Parliament (EP) said on Thursday. The Bulgarian MEP noted that mutual trust between Bulgaria and the Republic of North Macedonia must be restored.


Ilhan Kyuchyuk, who is the EP's Permanent Rapporteur on the Republic of North Macedonia, was paying a working visit to Skopje, which focused on reforms in the Balkan country, as well as renewing trust and goodneighbourly relations with Bulgaria.

Speaking at a joint news conference with Minister Osmani, Kyuchyuk said that the goodneighbourly relations are an important part of every negotiations framework, and their future calls for restoration of mutual trust.

Kyuchyuk told journalists that the walls between the two countries must be torn down, so their citizens can live in a better world. According to him, North Macedonia's EU accession is of strategic interest for Bulgaria as well, which is why there must be dialogue, sincere relations and returning to the Treaty from 2017.

Earlier in the week, Kyuchyuk said in a televised interview that his visit to North Macedonia is part of the report he is drafting on that country's progress as a candidate to join the EU, while his role as Rapporteur is unbiased and reflects the real processes in the country. The report is to be voted by the EP's Committee on Foreign Affairs and adopted in plenary. RI/MY
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