site.btaPM Mickoski Expects Bulgarian MEPs to Withdraw “Macedonian Identity” Corrections from EP Report

North Macedonia Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski expects the Bulgarian MEPs to withdraw the corrections concerning the “Macedonian identity and language” from the European Parliament’s Skopje progress report in order to match words with deeds.

Ending a visit to Bitola, North Macedonia, on Tuesday, Mickoski was asked by a journalist whether he trusts remarks made by Bulgarian President Rumen Radev at a news conference in Tirana on Monday. Radev, who was in the Albanian capital for a summit of the South-East European Cooperation Process, reportedly said that there are no outstanding bilateral issues between Bulgaria and North Macedonia, and Sofia has not imposed a veto and has not stopped Skopje’s European integration, but rather, the European consensus of 2022 refers to domestic challenges related to human rights in North Macedonia. Mickoski replied by saying that “divergent messages are coming from Sofia.”

Mickoski commented: “Old people say, you should mind what people do, not what they say. [The Bulgarians] have a chance to show what they are doing. On June 24, the European Parliament Committee on Foreign Affairs will discuss the report [on North Macedonia’s progress in European integration], from which I expect that the Bulgarian MEPs will withdraw the corrections requiring the ‘centuries-old’ Macedonian identity and language to be described as ‘present-day,’ and the report will hopefully be adopted in unison with the European spirit. And then comes the roadmap on the rights of minorities, which will be on the agenda very soon. They have a chance to put their words into practice.”

He also expects Sofia to agree to a meeting between North Macedonia’s President Gordana Siljanovska-Davkova and Bulgaria’s Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov during the NATO Summit in The Hague to discuss Pan-European Corridor 8, so that work can start on the third section of the railway link and “the project can become a priority for Bulgaria” to pave the way for good neighbourly relations.

On Monday, North Macedonia media quoted Bulgarian President Rumen Radev as saying at a joint news conference in Tirana with his counterparts from North Macedonia and Albania: “There is a Treaty of Good-Neighbourliness, Friendship and Cooperation [between Sofia and Skopje] dating from 2017 and two protocols to it. There is a negotiating framework [between North Macedonia and the EU] dating from 2022, a European consensus of all member states and the government of North Macedonia. Bulgaria has never raised and will never raise conditions beyond that agreement, beyond the negotiating framework and beyond the two protocols.”

The correspondent of North Macedonia’s state news agency MIA reported from Tirana that Radev stated that the North Macedonia case is about “domestic challenges related to human rights and the rule of law.” MIA quoted the Bulgarian President as saying: “I want to assure you yet again that Bulgaria, as your closest friendly country, is willing, ready and reaching out to provide assistance, so that your state leaders and society [of North Macedonia] can apply and fulfill the Copenhagen criteria at an accelerated pace. All this is geared towards the same goal to see all countries accede and become members.”