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Once again, the developments in Bulgaria tied the hands of the EU leaders, to say ‘YES’ to the opening of the first intergovernmental meeting between Albania and Northern Macedonia, at the European Council summit.
Bulgaria’s veto of northern Macedonia was not lifted, and even produced a strong political crisis topple the government of Prime Minister Kiril Petkov.
From Brussels, the dismissed former Prime Minister Petkov explained the difficulty of his country in lifting the veto imposed on Northern Macedonia in 2020, as a result of the clash over historical and linguistic issues between Sofia and Skopje.
Petkov: There was no chance for Bulgaria to lift its veto on Northern Macedonia during this EU summit. A solution may be forthcoming in the coming days. Our Parliament must adopt a resolution allowing the lifting of the veto, based on the approval of the proposal of the French Presidency. I personally like the French proposal, but it is not up to me to make decisions. It should be the Bulgarian parliament that gives the green light to lift the veto.
Former Prime Minister Petkov hinted at the fear of Bulgarian political parties in the face of their electorate in lifting the veto.
Petkov: No political party in Bulgaria wants to lose face before the snap elections. With the fourth vote in just over a year likely to take place in September, lifting the veto would not suit the electorate, which largely supports it.
Kosovo continues to knock on the doors of Brussels for visa liberalization, but even at this European summit this did not happen.
Vjosa Osmani, President of Kosovo, held a short meeting with French President Emanuel Macron, whose country holds the French presidency.
The French proposal, which was recently submitted to Bulgaria, contains five points. Skopje must confirm to the UN that it has no territorial claims against Bulgaria, that it will include the Bulgarian minority in the Constitution, that it will rehabilitate the victims of Yugoslav communism, the reprisals on its territory due to their Bulgarian ethnicity, the harmonization of textbooks in line with the work of history committees, the removal of all plaques that spread hate speech against Bulgarians and Bulgaria. The most subtle point relates to language. Bulgaria considers Macedonian its dialect, while Skopje calls it a separate language. France proposes that this clash be resolved in a second moment.
But this proposal, which offers a solution to lifting the Bulgarian veto, seems to be turning into a boomerang for Skopje. The leader of the Democratic Renewal of Macedonia party, Maja Moracanin, who is part of the ruling coalition, considers that the French proposal is not acceptable to us.
Moracanin stressed that it is not an acceptable solution and does not offer the possibility to finally, after 17 years of candidate status, start negotiations with the EU. She remained of the opinion that the open issues with Bulgaria should be resolved bilaterally and should not be a reason for blocking the European integration processes.
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