Zaev: Bulgaria’s Proposal is Neither Good Neighbourly, Nor Fraternal

“What he is requesting is neither European nor friendly,” said Prime Minister Zoran Zaev, commenting on Foreign Minister Osmani’s talks with Bulgarian Prime Minister Borissov and Foreign Minister Zakharieva in Sofia on Friday. “If Bulgaria stays with the demands, we should prepare the Macedonian people that negotiations with the EU will not start,” said Zaev. However, Zaev believes that this is not the position of, as he says, his friend Borissov, nor of the Bulgarian people. He remains optimistic that a solution will be found. Macedonian authorities, as well as Germany, which currently holds the rotating presidency of the European Union, expect the first intergovernmental conference, as the official start of negotiations, to take place in December. Open issues of Macedonian-Bulgarian relations are the topic of a joint historical commission meeting held in the middle of the month.