site.btaForeign Minister: Bulgaria Can Approve EU Negotiating Framework with Albania, but Not with North Macedonia

Sofia, November 17 (BTA) - During a video conference of the EU
General Affairs Council on Tuesday, Bulgarian Foreign Minister
Ekaterina Zaharieva stated her country's position that it can
approve the framework for EU accession negotiations with
Albania, but at this stage it cannot support the framework for
North Macedonia, and therefore, will not give the green light to
 the first EU-North Macedonia intergovernmental conference.

"Albania has fulfilled a large part of the conditions set by the
 decision in March," Zaharieva told journalists in Sofia after
the discussion on EU enlargement, which was part of the video
conference. She noted that the General Affairs Council was not
in a position to make decisions on Albania and North Macedonia
at this meeting. The meeting's agenda merely stipulated that the
 German Presidency of the EU Council would provide up-to-date
information and the foreign ministers would discuss the
negotiating framework with North Macedonia and Albania.

"Bulgaria's stance is based on the framework position of our
Parliament, which has been publicly known for more than a year
now, including to our colleagues in the Republic of North
Macedonia," Zaharieva went on to say. According to her, Bulgaria
 has insisted that the EU negotiating framework with North
Macedonia should include the following three items: adherence to
 the 1999 formula about the language dispute, which was
confirmed by the Treaty of Friendship, Goodneighbourliness and
Cooperation signed between Sofia and Skopje in 2017; a roadmap
for the implementation of the 2017 Treaty; and a clear
commitment to give up any claims about a Macedonian minority in
Bulgaria. "These conditions have not been included yet in the
draft of the negotiating framework," the Foreign Minister noted.

Zaharieva recalled the efforts made by the Bulgarian Presidency
of the EU Council in the first half of 2018 to put the topic of
EU enlargement back on the bloc's agenda, and said that the
Bulgarian government is open to talks. "A relationship of
goodneighbourliness is in the interests of the candidate
country's citizens more than anyone else," she said.

During Tuesday's online meeting, she updated the EU foreign
ministers on the bilateral talks between Sofia and Skopje and
thanked the German EU Presidency and Neighbourhood and
Enlargement Commissioner Oliver Varhelyi for their efforts.

Earlier in the day the Foreign Minister said in an interview
with Bulgarian National Television that Bulgaria remains a
supporter of EU enlargement and this is not about twisting arms.
 She advised North Macedonia not to give up at the first sign of
 adversity it encounters along the way. "Difficulties are yet to
 come, the process is not easy," she noted, adding that Bulgaria
 has also taken that path.

''When things calm down, when they [North Macedonia] stop
adhering to building a state based solely on anti-Bulgarian
ideology - then they will gain much more,'' Zaharieva added.

Earlier, opposition Bulgarian Socialist Party MP Yavor Bozhankov
 told Bulgarian National Radio that there is a risk that
Bulgaria would fall into isolation because of its position on
North Macedonia. Zaharieva disagreed with this. The Foreign
Minister said that Sofia has repeatedly raised the outstanding
issues, but these were not heard in Skopje. She said she is
ready to appear in Parliament and answer parliamentary questions
 about North Macedonia, after her participation in Question Time
 in the National Assembly last Friday was postponed due to
travel outside the country.

A day before the General Affairs Council, the European Green
Party and the Renew Europe Group in the European Parliament
issued statements saying that they strongly support the start of
 talks between the EU and North Macedonia and calling for
accepting the EU negotiating framework without delay. Bulgaria
is represented in the two EP groups by Zeleno Dvizhenie (Green
Movement party) and the Movement for Rights and Freedoms.
DT/LN/VE