Bulgaria conditions talks on North Macedonia's EU membership

Bulgaria conditions talks on North Macedonia's EU membership

 Bulgaria is seeking support from the European Union, within the negotiating framework between North Macedonia and the EU, to enter into the Good Neighbor Agreement, which the two countries signed in 2017.

"The bilateral agreement between Skopje and Sofia on good neighborliness should be part of the negotiating framework for North Macedonia's membership in the European Union," reads the rationale for a memorandum drafted by Bulgaria.

In this six-page document, as Radio Free Europe writes, Bulgaria seeks the support of EU member states that “The Good Neighbor Agreement between Northern Macedonia and Bulgaria should be included in Chapter 35 of the negotiating framework for Macedonia's membership. of the North in the European Union ”.

The Bulgarian memorandum states that "the Macedonian language did not exist until August 2, 1944 and that the formation of the Macedonian nation was a project of Belgrade during the period between the two world wars."

The negotiating framework between Skopje and official Brussels was presented in July this year by the European Commission. Skopje said it expects the final text of this negotiating framework for the country's EU membership to be published no later than October this year.

The experts of the Macedonian side involved in the talks between the two neighboring countries emphasize that after a few months pause - respectively from December last year, due to the coronavirus pandemic and the elections in North Macedonia - during this month Skopje and Sofia expert officials will be met, where many contentious issues will be discussed.

"I hope that soon we will meet with the Bulgarian colleagues of the Commission at the level of experts that is committed to resolving historical differences. So, these days we are expected to coordinate in terms of time, but also the protocols that must be respected during the work based on the recommendations of the authorities regarding coronavirus protection", says for Radio Free Europe, Petar Todorov, who is part of The Committee of Experts, without giving further details about the topics to be discussed by experts from both countries.

The expert on international relations, Selim Ibrahimi, tells Radio Free Europe that the Bulgarian side has already officially presented its position to Brussels, that if the commissions of the two neighboring countries do not reach an agreement, then Bulgaria will veto North Macedonia.

Selimi stresses that now is the time to push for the resolution of open historical issues between Bulgaria and North Macedonia.

"In this regard, I do not think the European Union is interested in a new crisis in the Balkans. Personally, I think that the European Union will find the means to activate soft diplomacy, so that the disputed issues between the two countries (North Macedonia and Bulgaria) are resolved and do not pose an obstacle to opening chapters on North Macedonia or Macedonia's membership in the European Union in the future", says Selimi.

"Skopje needs to review once again the history, so that the figures that Bulgaria disputes are examined through the prism of professional historians without political influence," he added.

Meanwhile, the leader of the Macedonian opposition party, VMRO-DPMNE, Hristijan Mickovski, in the protest held on the evening of September 15, stressed that no compromise will be allowed for Goce Delchev (who is considered a hero from North Macedonia and Bulgaria, which fought against the Ottoman Empire), because according to him, this historical figure represents the main pillar of the existence of the Macedonian people.

"Delchev is the red line of our dignity and identity, that is why we are here today, because Delchev is Macedonia and the pillar of our existence as a people. "Macedonianism and what we are is nothing less important than Europeanization, Macedonianism is above all," Mickovski said.

Otherwise, the Agreement on Good Neighborliness between North Macedonia and Bulgaria was signed on August 2, 2017. This agreement aims to resolve disputes between the two neighboring countries, which concern the contestation of the Macedonian language by Bulgaria and disputes over historical events until 1944, namely the origin of the hero of the two countries, Goce Delchev, the role of VMRO (Macedonian internal revolutionary organization) and the Ilinden Assembly, which had declared the independence of the first Macedonian state on August 2 of 1903.
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