SkopjeDiem Macedonia in English
Late on Friday evening, the Bulgarian government adopted the conclusions concerning the decision over the EU membership negotiation framework with Macedonia, but no specific details were revealed. This resulted with criticism from Bulgarian President Rumen Radev, who said that the government’s lack of comment and definition is confusing. “The government has not defined its positions of opposition towards Skopje. I believe that the EU negotiation framework should include a special chapter for good-neighbourliness as obligation for North Macedonia. Bulgaria must defend its identity, history and language,” Radev said. Bulgarian Deputy PM and Foreign Affairs Minister Ekaterina Zaharieva said that Bulgaria cannot give a green light for Macedonia in the EU at the moment. “We cannot close our eyes before the fact that this country proceeds to develop itself according to the visions of Josip Broz – Tito and Joseph Stalin. One cannot praise and celebrate Tito and Stalin and their ideologies and tend to become an EU member-state at the same time,” Zaharieva said. Vice-president of the Bulgarian Parliament Veselin Mareshki said that Macedonia and Bulgaria must be united into one political entity sooner. “It’s about time for Macedonia to once again be reunited with Bulgaria into one state. We are same people, with shared history, with shared past. If we remove the influence of other greater countries and centres of power and follow the people’s interests only, unification is a logical step,” Mareshki said.
