site.btaTISP Floor Leader Yordanov: State Leaders Who Dare Speak Like That Have No Place in EU

There Is Such a People (TISP) Floor Leader Toshko Yordanov Wednesday commented that a statement by North Macedonia's Deputy Prime Minister Aleksandar Nikoloski is evidence of the Republic of North Macedonia not having a place in the EU as well as of the national treason committed by Continue the Change-Democratic Bulgaria, the Movement for Rights and Freedoms, and GERB when they lifted the veto on that country's EU membership. "This type of rhetoric and state leaders who dare speak like that, have no place in the EU," Yordanov added.  

Earlier on Wednesday, North Macedonia's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Transport Aleksandar Nikoloski commented in an interview with TV Alfa on the absence of the national flag of North Macedonia in a photo of Presidents Rumen Radev and Gordana Siljanovska-Davkova during her visit to Bulgaria on September 13. "The absolute minimum level of courtesy is to display the flag of the visiting president's country. However, the host is evidently uncivilized, and they can send a protest note about my statement, if they like. Since the host is neither civilized nor decent, nor respectful, this is what happens," Nikoloski said. "Only those in our country who falsely claimed that the Macedonian and Bulgarian people share a common history, which they do not, are more contemptible. The same people who signed off on the fact that the Macedonian language is a dialect of Bulgarian and that we will never join the European Union unless we acknowledge we are Bulgarians with Bulgarian roots, they now speak of patriotism," Nikoloski also said.

Yordanov, who is a historian, commented that there is no common history between Bulgaria and North Macedonia "for one simple reason: they are part of Bulgarian history." "Here we can agree that they have something like a history from 1944-1945, when they are created along the Comintern [Communist International] line. They have history as a territory, not as a people, because they are part of Bulgarian history," Yordanov argued. He expressed the hope that Bulgarian state leaders will remember that they are Bulgarians and will defend Bulgaria, he added.

In his words, an issue is created out of something that is not an issue. The visit of North Macedonia's President to her Bulgarian counterpart was unofficial, so there was no need to display flags, Yordanov said.

"Now we will see how much our EU partners are actually our partners, because the behaviour of North Macedonia's power holders is actually disrespectful towards the whole EU," Yordanov commented. Sofia and Skopje have signed an agreement, the rules are clear, he added. "At present, our European partners should react extremely strongly and say that unless they start observing the agreements, the Republic of North Macedonia has no place in the EU and no negotiating chapters will be opened. The path is described in the negotiating framework," Yordanov said.