site.btaBuilding Good-Neighbourly Relations Requires Trust, Open Dialogue, Honouring Commitments - Foreign Minister Georgiev

Building good-neighbourly relations requires trust, open dialogue, predictability, and honouring commitments, Bulgaria's Foreign Minister Georg Georgiev has said during a meeting with his counterpart from the Republic of North Macedonia, Timcho Mucunski, on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference. "Good-neighbourly relations are a horizontal criterion in the EU integration process, and without them, EU membership would be impossible," Georgiev said as quoted by his Ministry on Saturday.

He noted that Bulgaria's position on North Macedonia's European integration has been clear and consistent. The European compromise of 2022 outlines a series of measures, and fully implementing them is the only way forward. The inclusion of Bulgarians in North Macedonia’s Constitution, on equal terms with other ethnic groups, is just the first step. Its implementation will allow Skopje to begin accession talks, the press release reads. Georgiev made it clear that renegotiating or circumventing agreements, supported by the entire European Union, is not possible.