site.btaUPDATED President Radev: North Macedonia's Accession to EU Must Rely on Fulfilment of Membership Criteria, Not Lobbying

In a letter to European leaders and institutions, President Rumen Radev called for the accession of the Republic of North Macedonia to the EU to be based on North Macedonia's fulfilment of the membership criteria and not on lobbying, the Presidency press secretariat reported on Monday.

According to Radev, the today's events show a clear departure from the beaten track. Finding a compromise acceptable to both Bulgaria and North Macedonia, which the European Council achieved in July 2022, has so far failed to resolve the issues. The President said: "Instead of working to meet the conditions, Skopje is again relying on active lobbying to cover up its lack of political will to achieve the membership criteria".

The President pointed to the resolution of the German Bundestag as an example of imposing the main narrative of the political circles and media in North Macedonia on relations with Bulgaria, which is dominated by the thesis that Bulgaria does not accept the modern identity of North Macedonia. He said: "The fact is, however, that Bulgaria has never challenged the right of the citizens of North Macedonia to define their modern identity and to call their official language whatever they wish. Bulgaria has only reacted to attempts to build the country's identity on an anti-Bulgarian basis and by appropriating Bulgarian history, similar to Skopje's obsession with the ancient period until the signing of the treaty with Greece in 2018".

The resolution calls on Bulgaria not to set additional conditions for North Macedonia's EU accession. In this regard, the Head of state emphasized that the inclusion of Bulgarians in the Constitution of North Macedonia is only a precondition for the start of membership negotiations. However, it does not exhaust the conditions that North Macedonia has to fulfil.

Radev's letter also referred to the case with the forthcoming report of the European Parliament on the European Commission's report on North Macedonia for 2022. In an interview on May 23, the Foreign Minister of North Macedonia stated that he had contacts with MEPs from the European Parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee and influenced the text of the draft report, directly involving himself in the drafting process with written proposals. "Yet another example of Skopje's lobbying policy is the announcement by the country's Foreign Minister that other Member States intend to issue declarations similar to the German Bundestag's resolution," Radev's letter reads.

Radev expressed confidence that Bulgaria and the other EU Member States can jointly support North Macedonia's integration processes, which should focus on the achievement of the membership criteria, with particular emphasis on human rights and the principles of goodneighbourliness.