site.btaNorth Macedonia's Top Diplomat Discusses His Country's EU Integration with Bulgarian PM, Foreign Minister

Sofia, October 9 (BTA) - Visiting Foreign Minister Bujar Osmani
of North Macedonia discussed his country's EU integration with
Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borissov and with Foreign
Minister Ekaterina Zaharieva here on Friday.

Borissov expressed a strong hope that "North Macedonia will
receive our assurances and make progress towards EU accession".
"Necessary compromises have to be made, as many others have made
 them. We are obliged to the present and future generations to
make sure that North Macedonia, Albania and the countries of the
 Western Balkans are not held back on their way to the EU,"
Borissov said, quoted by the Government Information Service.

He voiced concern that the outlawed United Macedonian
Organization Ilinden and "a Macedonian minority" in Bulgaria
"figure in a political resolution of the European Parliament".

The Prime Minister was apparently referring to an EP resolution
on the rule of law in Bulgaria of October 8, 2020 which, while
not explicitly mentioning "a Macedonian minority", called on the
 Bulgarian Government "to enhance cooperation with international
 and local human rights monitors and to take all the necessary
measures to safeguard the rights of minorities effectively, in
particular the rights to freedom of expression and freedom of
association, including through implementation of the relevant
judgments of the European Court of Human Rights". The resolution
 specified in a footnote that several of the judgments in
question determined that Bulgaria had unlawfully refused
registration of the United Macedonian Organization Ilinden and
banned rallies of its supporters, on the grounds that the
organization is separatist and pursues political aims.

Bringing up these issues in the EP resolution is unproductive
"precisely at a time when we are seeking a compromise among the
historians and among our political partners in North Macedonia,
as we try to resolve the issue", said Borissov.

He said that talks at all levels need to start immediately, so
that a compromise that is satisfactory to all would have been
reached by November 10, when Bulgaria and North Macedonia will
co-chair a Berlin Process summit. "You have a lot of work to do,
 it is a very complex, important and necessary process," the
Prime Minister pointed out.

He went on to say: "Your citizens need to know that you have and
 have always had the strongest support in Bulgaria, and all we
have to do is turn history into a bridge of friendship and not a
 severed bridge that North Macedonia cannot use to cross over.
Therefore, political machinations about this are inadmissible."

In Borissov's words, "the prospect and the moment are crucial,
and if the present political leaders of Bulgaria and North
Macedonia fail to reach a compromise, they would commit a sin in
 the face of history". "The world would not understand us,
either," he added. 

Conferring with her counterpart of North Macedonia later on
Friday, Zaharieva said that her country has always supported
North Macedonia on its European path. She pointed out that EU
membership does not come overnight, requires reforms, and
depends on the country's merit and strict implementation of the
established criteria. "I don't want to see attitudes created in
the public and in the news media, to stand in the way of true
friendship," said Zaharieva.

She pointed out that the Joint Multidisciplinary Commission is
due to meet next week after a nearly a year long break. 

Zaharieva said that Bulgaria has long recognized the present
political reality, has always supported the independence and
sovereignty of North Macedonia, has never had any territorial
claims and has never denied its citizens their right to
self-determination. "Claiming the opposite is wrong. What needs
to be done now is for North Macedonia, in turn, to recognize the
 historical reality, just as Bulgaria has recognized the present
 political reality. Bulgaria wants nothing more than seeing the
[Goodneighbourliness] Treaty enforced, it has no new claims,"
the Bulgarian Foreign Minister said.   

Osmani said that the two countries have solid friendly
relations. "Today we discussed openly all issues, and it is my
intention to continue doing so. We have a Treaty that sets the
framework, and we have a will for friendship between the two
countries," he added.

He argued that more "communication bridges" are needed.

Bulgaria has repeatedly vowed support for North Macedonia's
aspirations to join the EU. In 2017, the two countries signed a
Treaty of Friendship, Goodneighbourliness and Cooperation, which
 was expected to iron out differences over facts in their shared
 history. A Joint Multidisciplinary Commission on Historical and
 Educational Issues, dominated by historians, was set up under
the Treaty to address these differences, but its work ground to
a halt late last year at North Macedonia's request, citing the
upcoming parliamentary elections in that country. Consequently,
the long-standing controversy over historical figures (claimed
as national heroes by both countries) and the Macedonian
language (which Bulgaria considers a dialect of the Bulgarian
language) has escalated in recent months, with Bulgarian Deputy
Prime Minister Krassimir Karakachanov, who is also the leader of
 the nationalist VMRO party,  threatening that Bulgaria would
block North Macedonia's first intergovernmental conference with
the EU. In late August, Bulgaria circulated an explanatory
memorandum to the rest of the other EU Member States,
formulating its "red lines" about Skopje's EU accession bid. The
 memorandum caused an outrage in North Macedonia, where it was
seen as humiliating. RY/LN/LG