site.btaPresident Pendarovski Says Bulgaria Asked for the Impossible, Some Senior EU Officials Disappointed Him

In an interview with Croatia's RTL, President Stevo Pendarovski of the Republic of North Macedonia said that three and a half years ago, altogether unexpectedly, Bulgaria asked Skopje in a memorandum for the impossible - to include Bulgarians in the Constitution as a condition for starting EU accession talks with North Macedonia, MKD.mk reported. Pendarovski said that what Bulgaria had asked for was that they change their identity and join the EU as Bulgarians.

The President expressed disappointment with senior officials both in the EU and individual countries who, in his words, failed to persuade Bulgaria not to set unacceptable conditions ahead of North Macedonia's EU accession. Pendarovski declined to name specific countries.

He argued that Bulgaria had joined the EU with an anti-European policy and tried to resolve bilateral disputes according to its own historical narrative. Pendarovski noted that the opposition in North Macedonia tried to capitalize on this but failed to bring this issue to the forefront before the elections. The opposition was adamant that no compromise will be made so the two-thirds majority required to amend the Constitution could not be secured, the President said, adding that the country is currently in a self-imposed deadlock.

Pendarovski stressed that the support of the people of North Macedonia for joining the EU has halved in the last two years. It has always been between 70% and 90%. If asked whether they want North Macedonia to become an EU Member State, 80% of the country’s residents would give an affirmative answer, but if asked whether EU accession should be conditional on the inclusion of Bulgarians in the Constitution, 80% would say “no”, the President said.