site.btaPrime Minister Glavchev: Bulgaria Was Leader on Issue of Western Balkans in 2017

In 2017, Bulgaria was a leader on the Western Balkans, when the Good Neighbourliness Treaty Agreement between Bulgaria and the Republic of North Macedonia (RNA) was signed on August 1 and, when Boyko Borissov and Zoran Zaev were prime ministers of the two countries, said Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Dimitar Glavchev in Parliament during a hearing on the development of the EU enlargement process after the adoption of the French proposal, the harsh anti-Bulgarian campaign and the statements of a large part of the political elite in North Macedonia, the repeated coordinated diplomatic pressure against Bulgaria, which aims to bring the Republic of North Macedonia into the European Union by circumventing the rules and forcing Bulgaria to to step back from the terms already agreed as well as the actions already taken and planned to protect Bulgarian national interests on these issues.

Dimitar Glavchev stressed that the Bulgarian government strictly adheres to the position confirmed by the decision of the National Assembly of June 24 2022, which sets the conditions under which Bulgaria can support any step of the process of European integration of North Macedonia. The adoption and immediate entry into force of constitutional amendments, by which Bulgarians will be listed equally with other peoples in the country's constitution, is an inevitable precondition for further progress in Skopje's European integration process, Glavchev said. This systematic and strongly defended position is shared by Bulgaria’s EU partners, which is also expressed in the annual progress reports of the candidate country, he added.

Speculation of a possible reopening of the negotiating framework approved by all member states and North Macedonia itself, or non-compliance with the 2017 treaty, are rejected by all Euro-Atlantic partners, the Bulgarian prime minister said. He stressed that there is no pressure on Bulgaria. At the same time, in his words, the Foreign Ministry continues to actively inform the EU member states about the institutional arbitrariness systematically imposed on the Bulgarians in North Macedonia, including in the context of an anti-Bulgarian campaign and provocations in the campaign for the National Assembly and presidential elections in North Macedonia.

He also said that this year the implementation of the program is underway for support of organizations of Bulgarian communities in Albania, Kosovo, Moldova, Serbia and Ukraine and of citizens of North Macedonia.

Glavchev said that Bulgaria is not giving up on improving the level of relations achieved between the two countries. Respecting agreements would be progress, the Prime Minister said.