site.btaNorth Macedonia’s President Pendarovski: Bilateral Relations with Bulgaria Not at Very High Level

The bilateral relations with Bulgaria are not at a very high level, North Macedonian President Stevo Pendarovski told Macedonian TV 24. The Republic of North Macedonia was shocked that Bulgaria had blocked the country's path to the EU, Pendarovski stressed.

In his words, the first signs that Bulgaria had such an intention appeared not after the signing of the Treaty of Friendship, Good-neighbourliness and Cooperation between the two countries in 2017, but about three years ago, when in Brussels the Bulgarian ambassador "as instructed by his foreign ministry, the then government and the president" made written demands, including "that the Macedonian language is a dialect of the Bulgarian language, or replacing the term "occupation" with "administration" for the Bulgarian presence in Vardar Macedonia after 1941, which was a surprise to "all the other member states" because such type of discussion did not even exist it the Joint Historical Issues Commission at the time.

In Pendarovski’s words, it is not true that he meets more often with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic than with Bulgarian President Rumen Radev.

Regarding the expectations that the constitutional amendments will be voted by November, Pendarovski pointed out that he is realistic that if they do not happen by then, there is no danger of destabilization of the country, but a drastic regression in terms of democratic development of the country and economic stagnation is possible.