site.btaNorth Macedonia Opposition Leader Vows to Sit at Negotiating Table with Bulgaria "as Soon as New Cabinet Is Formed in Skopje"

The leader of the largest opposition party in the Republic of North Macedonia, Hristijan Mickoski, said in a Voice of America interview that the governments of his country and Bulgaria "have turned the problem with Bulgaria into a major issue" with many anomalies, and vows readiness to negotiate with Bulgaria as soon as a new government is formed in Skopje.

Having declared that EU accession is his priority, he was asked by VOA how he would go about this, and he said that he is ready to sit at the negotiating table with the Bulgarian government once a new government is formed in his country, "to seek together a solution that would be fair, with no losers and no winners, that would be in the shared interest: Bulgaria will have one more neighbour that is a EU member and North Macedonia will be a part of the European family".

Mickoski further said that what worries him about the accords with Greece and Bulgaria is "the unprincipled policy that the neighbours always pursue as regards [North] Macedonia for over three decades now".

"The case with Bulgaria culminated after it abused its veto power in the autumn of 2019 when it imposed the veto [on the start of EU accession talks]. There was this non-existent problem that somehow came to the surface as a result of the domestic political considerations of Bulgarian politicians. I believe that the so called 'agreement' that was signed [by Sofia and Skopje] based on the French proposal was not a solution but created a additional problem. That is why I believe that it is in the best interest of Bulgaria but most of all in the interest of [North] Macedonia to have a fair agreement that would take [North] Macedonia swiftly to full EU membership rather than see it sinking in nationalist-romantic issues that belong with the Middle Ages," said Mickoski.