site.btaUPDATED Bulgarian Politicians React to News of Tirana-Skopje Decoupling on EU Accession Path

Bulgarian politicians Thursday reacted to the news of Albania’s EU accession path being decoupled from North Macedonia’s. By an unanimous decision of Ambassadors of European Union Member States taken on Wednesday, the first clusters of negotiation with Albania will be formally opened on October 15.

The two Western Balkan countries’ path to EU membership was coupled with the start of negotiations formally launched in the summer of 2022. However, due to disputes between Skopje and Bulgaria, the actual opening of chapters has been held up. The disputes include Skopje's failure to inscribe ethnic Bulgarians in North Macedonia in the country's Constitution. 

National Assembly Foreign Policy Committee Chair Boyko Borissov told journalists he intends to try to persuade the Committee members to act sensibly, not emotionally, on the matter of North Macedonia after it emerged that Albania's EU accession path will be decoupled from North Macedonia's. Borissov was commenting hours before the Foreign Policy Committee discussed and adopted a draft declaration on "the systematic and persistent undermining of the dialogue between the Republic of North Macedonia and the Republic of Bulgaria and provocative and offensive statements about Bulgaria made by the ruling political factors in the Republic of North Macedonia." The declaration was later adopted by Parliament in an unanimous vote of 178-0 and without debate. Borissov commented further: "From my experience on the issue of EU enlargement with the Western Balkans, I know how our colleagues in Europe and America work. We need to show patience as our institutions react. We should not appear aggressive, because the tactics of our colleagues in the Republic of North Macedonia is to put the blame on us. We have a Treaty of Good-neighbourliness [with North Macedonia], which is referred to on the EU enlargement agenda, and no one can ignore it. Bulgaria has not departed from good manners, it has just called on someone to resign, which is something very normal. We should live up to the high standard of national conduct rather than echo the rhetoric of a minister." The reference was to North Macedonia's Deputy Prime Minister and Transport Minister Aleksandar Nikoloski, who said in a televised interview on September 18 that Bulgarian politicians were exploiting North Macedonia for political gain. Borissov also said: "I want to assure the Bulgarian people that everything we have done in the European People's Party, the European Council and the European Commission [has been effective enough to] make ourselves heard. This is how European institutions work: no threats, no insults. Albania is moving forward, and our colleagues in the Republic of North Macedonia should reap what they have sown."

Continue the Change (CC) co-leader Kiril Petkov told reporters that time has shown that the French proposal made during CC's government proved to be very good for Bulgaria. Petkov added that the entire European Union chose to stand on Bulgaria's side by decoupling the Republic of North Macedonia from Albania on their EU accession path. He stated that the Republic of North Macedonia must decide whether it wants to acknowledge in its Constitution the presence of Bulgarians as an ethnic minority in its country, as otherwise its path to the EU would close down. Petkov was hopeful that Skopje would reconsider its position in order to catch up to Albania's progress.

Vazrazhdane party leader Kostadin Kostadinov commented to journalists that the decision for Albania to start its membership negotiations with the EU in substance, was logical and even belated. "Now, the Republic of North Macedonia has two paths to choose from: either it recognizes Bulgarians as one of the main state-forming components in the country and inscribes them in its Constitution, or it stays out of the membership negotiations with the EU," Kostadinov said. According to him, the latter option is what the power-holders in Skopje obviously want at present. Kostadinov commented that, given North Macedonia's refusal to meet the conditions of agreements it has signed with Bulgaria and the EU, it was necessary to make a decision. "If you do not want to observe the agreements, the other side will not honour its commitments to you either," he argued. He noted that, on more than one occasion, North Macedonia has taken the liberty of acting outrageously and lobbying in the corridors of European institutions against supporting Bulgaria's efforts to ensure that the natural rights and freedoms of the Bulgarians in North Macedonia are protected. "At the same time, Albania recognized the Bulgarian minority and provided guarantees for all constitutional rights for the Bulgarians as enjoyed by the other minorities there. Albania has shown that it is a normal European nation and deserves to be an EU member, and Vazrazhdane supports that," the party leader said.

Bulgarian Socialist Party Floor Leader Borislav Gutsanov told reporters that Brussels deciding to decouple Albania’s EU accession path from the Republic of North Macedonia’s is a normal response, especially considering the rhetoric coming from officials from North Macedonia. Gutsanov pointed to events from last week, seemingly referring to Nikoloski's televised interview of September 18.

There Is Such a People Floor Leader Toshko Yordanov told journalists in Parliament that the Republic of North Macedonia is not living up to the commitments it itself signed for the EU accession negotiating framework. In his words, the Republic of North Macedonia cannot "even hope" to start negotiations, especially with the unreasonable statements of their leaders and the "insane demand" they made in the European Parliament (EP) to renegotiate the terms. The most normal thing is for North Macedonia to stay where they are - outside the EU, and they will never start negotiations if they do not change their behaviour and include the Bulgarians in their Constitution, Yordanov pointed out.

President Rumen Radev told Bulgarian reporters in New York that he congratulates the Bulgarian parliamentary Foreign Policy Committee as well as the National Assembly for adopting a declaration that deplores the disruption of dialogue with the Republic of North Macedonia by statements of Skopje officials against Bulgaria. "This is the way Bulgaria should treat this issue. In no case should we descend to the level which the events and comments over Albania and North Macedonia have reached," the head of State said. He added that Bulgaria should take a "reasonable stance" and called on Bulgarian politicians for "restraint and reason". Radev commented that these are "logical consequences of what is happening in the Republic of North Macedonia and Albania and of the policy of the government in Skopje, as well as of the path they have chosen". "I have long warned that there is insufficient knowledge of international law and the specifics of the path towards European integration, as well as deficits in our relations," Radev said. "We are ready to help, but there has to be an awareness of what the EU actually means and how it should work in order for the Republic of North Macedonia to achieve its goal," he added. He said the Skopje government is going in the opposite direction, but also expressed hope that "the necessary choices will be made". According to the President, including Bulgarians in the Constitution of the Republic of North Macedonia remains "a top priority". "The 2022 negotiating framework says very clearly that only when the Republic of North Macedonia includes the Bulgarians in its Constitution, will the accession negotiations start," Radev said. The head of State put an emphasis on his meeting with his counterpart of North Macedonia, Gordana Siljanovska-Davkova, in Sofia on September 13. "That was a friendly and open meeting," Radev said. "We discussed many important topics related to our cooperation," he added. In his words, the attacks came from other sides and he has good relations with North Macedonia's presidential institution and Siljanovska-Davkova.

North Macedonia's Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski commented that the decision to decouple Albania's EU accession path from his country's sends a bad message to the citizens of North Macedonia. Mickoski told local media that his country has done "many things that nobody else has done and which have nothing to do with the Copenhagen criteria" on its way to the EU. "We are the only case where bilateral treaties are conditions in the negotiating framework. I regret that the previous government accepted everything and, while robbing its own people, waved the European flag. I share the opinion of the vast majority of Macedonian citizens that we should no longer accept conditions based on national concessions without guarantees. For me, this is a dictate. If that is the condition for [North] Macedonia to continue negotiating, no thanks. These are not the European values that my generation fell in love with," Mickoski said. According to him, double standards are being applied to North Macedonia, while he suggested talks "as long as necessary" to find a solution, which is now missing. "And if we say that treaties must be implemented, the Treaty of Friendship and Good-neighbourliness [with Bulgaria] does not say that we must include Bulgarians in [our] Constitution. Is it so difficult to accept our proposal and to enact these constitutional changes when the Bulgarian parliament ratifies the protocol for our accession to the EU. It is obvious that someone does not have honest intentions", Mickoski added, wishing Albania success in the negotiations and said that "maybe one day" the paths of Albania and North Macedonia will meet "somewhere along the trajectory of European integration".

Addressing the UN General Assembly later on Thursday, North Macedonia's President Gordana Siljanovska-Davkova called for understanding and a fair unblocking of the negotiation process for her country's membership in the European Union, rejection of double standards and respect for the principles and values enshrined in the EU's basic documents. "The unification of Europe is like an unfinished symphony without us. The European Union is not only a political system, but also a political philosophy that most Macedonian and Balkan political actors and citizens believe in. Integration is a powerful motive and a key force for democratic development", she said, adding that North Macedonia has been waiting for the start of negotiations with the EU since 2005, "encouraged by international representatives with the motive: 'only this condition', 'only this concession', 'only this constitutional amendment'". "As a professor of constitutional law and as a former member of the Venice Commission, I know that what is legal is not always just and legitimate, because in the case of my country, it was not acted in accordance with international and national law, i.e. the right of self-determination of every people, guaranteed by the UN Charter, was 'forgotten'," Siljanovska said. She recalled that "as one of the six constituent Yugoslav republics," North Macedonia participated in the creation of the UN, and when it was admitted to the UN in 1993, under the name of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, it faced "great injustice and still faces it." "In 2018, the Prespa Agreement was signed and ratified, followed by an unsuccessful referendum and constitutional changes that saw the Republic of Macedonia formally and legally become the Republic of North Macedonia. But not only did EU membership not materialise, but Macedonian citizens now face a new, again 'last condition', for another constitutional change, not for membership, but for the start of negotiations, and for the second time," Siljanovska told the UN General Assembly. In her words, "where there is a veto, there is often no justice", and the veto itself has become a tool for the bilateralisation of European integration. "In the conditions of conflict on European soil, the stagnation of European integration not only demotivates Macedonian citizens and slows down reforms, but also destabilises the region of Southeastern Europe, leaving room for the penetration of malignant influences," she argued.