Petkov: Skopje Now Has Choice for Its Future

“Skopje now has a choice for its future, Bulgaria cannot be responsible for everyone,” said outgoing Bulgarian Prime Minister Kiril Petkov in an interview with Bulgarian National Radio (BNR), commenting on Sofia’s position following the National Assembly’s decision to accept the draft proposal by the French Presidency with the EU for unblocking the European path of North Macedonia. According to Petkov, by accepting the “French proposal”, Bulgaria managed to protect its national interests. “We did something amazing. For the first time, Brussels supported the Bulgarian position,” Petkov said. He stressed that if the country agrees to the Paris proposal, it will have to include Bulgarians in the Constitution before starting the negotiation process with the EU. “We have clear control mechanisms for hate speech and discrimination. We have very clear definitions of historical facts and education in schools in North Macedonia,” claims Petkov. Deputy Prime Minister for European Affairs Bojan Maricic and Foreign Minister Bujar Osmani said on Friday that North Macedonia would accept the French presidency’s proposal to start negotiations with the EU it the Macedonian language issue is de-problematized in the negotiating framework and historical issues are not included and if the beginning of the negotiation process is not linked to the inclusion of the Bulgarians in the Constitution.