Bulgaria has always been ready for dialogue and understanding to solve bilateral issues with the Republic of North Macedonia, but this should be desired and executed by both sides, said Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borissov after a video-conference meeting with ambassadors of the EU Member States and the Swiss Confederation on Monday.
“It was Bulgaria that put the European future of the Western Balkans high on the agenda during the country’s EU Presidency,” Borissov told the meeting that focused on the measures to fight the coronavirus and the Western Balkans’ European perspective.
Separately, Bulgarian Foreign Minister Ekaterina Zaharieva told Kanal 3 that Sofia has extended its arms to Skopje on many occasions “even in their most difficult of times, but we see hostility and lack of sincerity from the other side.”
“I hope emotions will go down because we have already reduced the number of negative articles about Bulgaria there. Let me remind you that the Friendship Treaty obliges both sides to stop these manifestations of hatred,” noted FM Zaharieva.
According to her, Bulgaria’s position towards North Macedonia has been balanced.
“We extended our arms in 2017 amid the formation of the new government of Zoran Zaev. Afterwards we saw a slower implementation of the Friendship Treaty, not only in the historical part but also regarding infrastructure projects, hate speech etc,” said Zaharieva.
