site.btaNorth Macedonia's Media Cover New Bulgarian Cabinet in Light of EU Accession Negotiations

The media in North Macedonia Thursday reported on the election of a regular government in Bulgaria. The headlines include, "Bulgarian Parliament Elects New Government Headed by Prime Minister Zhelyazkov", "After Seven Elections: Bulgaria Gets Unusual Government Coalition", "Bulgaria Gets New Government, Will [North] Macedonia Get Constructive Interlocutor?", "Will the Fog between Skopje and Sofia Lift?", "Bulgaria Gets Political Government - Zhelyazkov: EU's Enlargement Based on Existing Agreements", "Georg Georgiev, Former Deputy of [Foreign Minister] Ekaterina Zaharieva, Is Bulgarian Diplomacy's New Boss".

What is happening in Bulgaria has been closely watched in North Macedonia, whose expectations from the new Bulgarian government are to hold bilateral talks. The Mickoski government is expected to negotiate the constitutional changes that Skopje did not implement and therefore did not start accession negotiations with the European Union.

In their numerous interviews after the government in Skopje took office, both Prime Minister Mickoski and Foreign Minister Timco Mucunski explained that they were waiting for a political government in Sofia so that they could negotiate with it. That is why not a small part of the attention in Skopje is focused on Bulgaria's new foreign minister, Georg Georgiev, explicitly specifying his position as deputy foreign minister when Ekaterina Zaharieva was minister.

Detailing the biography of Bulgaria's new foreign minister, the Sloboden Pecat daily writes: "Georgiev's only publicly known international experience at the time was that he was an assistant to Bulgarian MEPs of GERB. That was a moment when relations with the Republic of North Macedonia deteriorated sharply. In April 2019, as deputy foreign minister, Georgiev opened the fifth meeting of the Joint Multidisciplinary Expert Commission on Historical and Educational Issues between the Republic of Bulgaria and the Republic of North Macedonia at the Boyana Residence [in Sofia]." 

The daily also quotes a statement of Georgiev from the period when he was deputy foreign minister. "We are very happy and satisfied that we managed to reach an agreement on important issues regarding the joint celebration of the feasts of St Cyril and St Methodius, St Clement of Ohrid,  St Naum, and King Samuil. This is a kind of success on issues that until recently were divisive, but now we find a common path that does not divide us," Georgiev said at the time.

TV Sitel reports: "During the past period, Georgiev has not spared criticism of Macedonian politicians and integration. As the right-hand man of Minister Zaharieva, he said that Bulgaria would never concede to [North] Macedonia and would not accept compromises, publicly stating that we have a common history and that Gotse Delchev is a collective image of Bulgarian heroism. Georgiev will be the first channel of communication with Macedonian officials if the negotiations between the two countries resume, as requested by the Macedonian government."

The interlocutor most frequently invited by North Macedonia's media is former ambassador to Bulgaria Marian Gyorchev, who says the new Bulgarian government will be a "worthy interlocutor" for politicians in North Macedonia. 

"If nothing else, we will know their [the Bulgarian government's] positions, which are otherwise known - of the socialists, the liberals and the right-wingers in Bulgaria. It is important that there are no people who deviate from European values, and I think that if nothing else, we will know that they remain on their firm positions, and from now on we will have to build our position relying exclusively on European values and European experience, in line with the Copenhagen criteria, in line with the Nice Agreement and to be creative, constructive and to seek a level-playing field," Gyorchev told TV Channel 5. 

Speaking to the Vecer daily, Gyorchev pointed out that although Bulgaria has "passed the ball to Brussels", the negotiations with Bulgarian politicians are a parallel process and they should be conducted.

"Now we have two directions towards the EU. This treaty [of Friendship, Goodneighbourliness and Cooperation between Bulgaria and North Macedonia] is bilateral and refers to certain obligations of both the Bulgarian and the Macedonian side. It is intended to be built upon with constructive proposals that will contribute to promoting friendship between the two countries, which is very positive. The other route to Brussels is the negotiating framework proposed during the French EU Council Presidency, which, however, has not been adopted in the Macedonian Parliament and is therefore not part of our negotiating process. The negotiating framework is simply a proposal that we, as a parliament, have not voted on", the former diplomat claims. 

Journalist Zoran Bojarovski tells Frontline that "if the new political authorities in Bulgaria retain their power for a long period of time, it is a pure illusion to change their positions on the condition for changes in the Constitution as a start of the path to European integration of North Macedonia."

"For Sofia it is clear that the Bulgarians must be included in the Constitution without preconditions. For Skopje, the condition remains that the constitutional changes come into force when a decision is taken for [North] Macedonia to become an EU Member State. For Brussels [it is also clear] - a change in the Constitution, according to the French proposal to continue negotiations with the opening of the first clusters. In fact, each country blows its own horn from the position of its own barricades.There are reasons behind each side's positions that do not have the energy to break through the wall and find a common denominator to break the deadlock. For Bulgaria, its own musty historicisms are more important than the European perspective of its neighbours and the region. The new government in [North] Macedonia proved from day one that instead of pragmatic problem solving, it cares much more about demonstrating patriotism as a ticket for long-term governance, and Brussels, as many times before, is unable to channel geostrategy in an appropriate way and will," Bojarovski argues.

Dimitar Nikolovski, Executive Director of the Eurothink nongovernmental organization, tells Frontline that in Bulgaria "there still is consensus on the Macedonian integration." "My impression is that this is an issue the new Bulgarian government does not want to open at least for a long period of time. On the other hand, our government will continue to lobby the EU to change the negotiating framework. But [the government] is not giving any signals that the Constitution will be changed. So the situation remains at an impasse", Nikolovski believes.