site.btaForeign Ministry: North Macedonia PM Comments Reflect Misunderstanding of European Human Rights Court Decisions

The Prime Minister of North Macedonia once again demonstrates a lack of understanding of the European Court of Human Rights’ decisions, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement on its website on Wednesday.

The ministry noted that these comments, whether intentional or not, promote manipulative and false narratives that could be viewed as interference in Bulgaria’s internal affairs, referring to remarks by Hristijan Mickoski.

The foreign ministry recalled that the European consensus from July 2022, endorsed by all EU member states and Skopje, remains the valid roadmap for the neighbouring country’s progress in its accession process.

It is puzzling, the ministry added, that the Republic of North Macedonia’s prime minister regards these commitments as “interference in its internal affairs,” describing his view as an attempt to evade obligations and shift public focus away from insufficient reforms.

Earlier on Wednesday, EU Ambassador to Macedonia Michalis Rokas urged Skopje to maintain its efforts in implementing the reforms agreed under the Western Balkans Growth Plan. This was in response to Skopje’s request for assurances from the EU that the inclusion of Bulgarians in North Macedonia’s Constitution would be the only bilateral matter on the path to EU membership.

Mickoski, commented on the subject, saying he has heard many statements but is waiting to see actions.

“And the actions, in my opinion, involve recognizing the judgments of the Human Rights Court in Strasbourg for the community of people from North Macedonia in Bulgaria. Clear and unequivocal recognition of the centuries-old identity of North Macedonia and clear and unequivocal recognition of the centuries-old culture, traditions, customs, and the language of North Macedonia (...) We must respect the principles, otherwise, we have a serious problem,” Mickoski said, quoted by Radio Free Europe.

He stressed that North Macedonia does not have issues with other nations.

“If someone has a problem because someone bigger than them gives advice, and someone interprets this as interference in the internal affairs of a sovereign state, then what we hear from our eastern neighbour—if it is not interference in the internal affairs of a sovereign state, I don’t know what it is. So, we are not a nation that has problems with other nations; on the contrary, we respect our neighbours—Albanians, Serbs, Greeks, Bulgarians—but we want the same respect for us, citizens of North Macedonia,” Mickoski added, as cited by Deutsche Welle.