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Bulgaria will not change its attitude towards northern Macedonia, Bulgarian Prime Minister-designate Kiril Petkov said on December 11th.
“The Bulgarian position remains as it is, but we want to improve it. We do not want to continue only with statements from both sides of the border, but we want to sit together, teams from different spheres, to work for good neighborliness. “But at the same time we will protect the Bulgarian national interests.” Petkov said after handing over the list of ministers of the new government cabinet to President Rumen Radev in Sofia on Sunday.
Petkov’s party “We continue with the changes”, which won the third parliamentary elections on November 14, has managed to form a coalition with the Socialists, Populists and the center-right party, “Democratic Bulgaria”.
Bulgaria, as an EU member state, has blocked the start of talks on Northern Macedonia’s membership in the European Union (EU) since November 2020, making its vote conditional on reaching an agreement on the disputed issues.
Sofia seeks agreement on the identity, language and historical differences between the two countries. Sofia insists that Skopje acknowledge that the Macedonian language and identity, before 1945, were of Bulgarian origin.
Macedonian officials expect that at the next EU summit, expected this month, Sofia will lift its veto and allow the EU-Northern Macedonia intergovernmental conference to be held.
Deputy Prime Minister Artan Grubi on Friday announced an initiative by France to reach an agreement with Bulgaria, but gave no details on its content. But Sofia has denied having such an initiative.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Northern Macedonia, Bujar Osmani, meanwhile, commented on the local media reports on the possibility that only Albania will start negotiations with the EU, while Northern Macedonia will wait until an agreement is reached with Bulgaria.
“In 2019, the two countries were in opposite positions, when we had to move while Albania did not have the support of some member states and then the question was whether Northern Macedonia would be separated from Albania. “I consider that it is in the interest of both countries to stay together, because they create a strong energy by giving dynamism to the region, a regional component of this whole process that this is not only a democratic process, but also a political process.”, stated Osmani./ REL
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