site.btaNorth Macedonia’s Foreign Ministry Strongly Condemns Comments by Bulgaria’s Chief Diplomat

The Foreign Ministry in Skopje has strongly condemned what it called "the offensive remarks” made by Bulgarian Foreign Minister Georg Georgiev towards the Prime Minister and the institutions of North Macedonia during his appearance on BTV’s morning programme on Thursday.

Media in North Macedonia made headlines for Georgiev calling the Prime Minister of North Macedonia Hristijan Mickoski a "North Macedonian" prime minister (instead of the official "of North Macedonia") during the televised interview. Mickoski took offense as the country's officials strive towards the title "Macedonian". Under the 2019 Prespa Agreement between Greece and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia settling their bilateral name dispute, the adjectival reference to the State’s official organs and other public entities shall be “of the Republic of North Macedonia” or “of North Macedonia”, as according to Greece "Macedonian" denotes not only the area and people of the region but also their attributes, as well as the Hellenic civilization, history, culture, and heritage of that region from antiquity to present day.

The Foreign Ministry in Skopje stated that it had summoned the Bulgarian Ambassador to North Macedonia Zhelyazko Radukov, to whom an official protest was delivered. The ambassador was also informed of “the inappropriateness of such public statements made by a high-ranking official of the Bulgarian government.”

The Foreign Ministry of North Macedonia further commented: "Such remarks, which use inappropriate language and belittle representatives of a sovereign state, constitute a direct violation of the fundamental principles of international law and diplomatic communication. They do not contribute to the development of good-neighbourly relations and run counter to the spirit of constructive dialogue and mutual respect that should guide cooperation between the two countries. We expect an appropriate apology from official Sofia in order to maintain dignified and principled bilateral communication."

Reacting to Georgiev’s words, Mickoski called the Bulgarian Foreign Minister "a boy sent to get my attention" and said the Bulgarian government "is run by someone else in the background."