site.btaForeign Minister Comments on North Macedonia’s Progress Report, Bulgaria Entering Eurozone

Foreign Minister Georg Georgiev said in a bTV interview on Thursday that Bulgaria's entry into the eurozone shows that the country has achieved very high standards of economic, political and financial processes.

He noted that this is a very important moment for this country and such steps of integration show that the European project is alive and full of content.

“Probably someone tried to divert us from the path to the eurozone and a lot of maneuvers were made,” Georgiev pointed out.

Regarding the progress report of the Republic of North Macedonia on its way to the EU, Georgiev said that Bulgaria, in its united efforts, did not allow the European Parliament to be instrumentalized for the purposes of domestic political propaganda, such as that unleashed by North Macedonia and the country's Prime Minister.

North Macedonia’s authorities have put the institution of the European Parliament, including the rapporteur Thomas Weitz, in an extremely uncomfortable and unenviable position of seeking excuses and accounting for actions, Georgiev pointed out.

“We support and will support North Macedonia’s integration,” Georgiev said, commenting that North Macedonia’s Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski is "obviously not excited about the positive development of the processes" related to the country, but is waging a battle of fruitless narratives and suggestions.

Bulgaria is a strong country, a factor in the EU and in the region, which North Macedonia must take into account, Georgiev pointed out.

In his words, the dispute about history has long been left to historians.

Regarding the action in the Municipality of Varna, Georgiev said that it is untenable to claim that Peevski and Borisov ordered the action.

The monopoly on what is right and beautiful, which the PP-DB is trying to establish, is too conditional, given what we see happening, said Georgiev. And he specified that he was referring to the polemics between the two parties.

We have more work to do, which all other member states also have to do, said the minister regarding the report on the rule of law. He does not allow any risks for our country after the findings in the report.