Irrespective of how and when the new government in Bulgaria is formed, both sides should lose no time and take concrete steps towards each other to free the way for North Macedonia’s accession negotiations with the EU to start as soon as possible. I take encouragement from the fact that parties with a pronounced nationalistic agenda have not been rewarded by Bulgarian voters, says Austrian Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg in an interview with MIA.
“I was deeply disappointed by the failure of the start of the accession negotiations with North Macedonia. Bilateral and historical issues must be separated from this. We will see how and when a new government can be formed in Bulgaria. Whenever that may happen, both sides should lose no time and take concrete steps towards each other to free the way for North Macedonia’s accession negotiations with the EU to start as soon as possible,” says FM Schallenberg on how realistic expectations are of opening the accession negotiations during Portugal’s EU Presidency.
According to him, the important thing is that a solution is found on a bilateral level between Bulgaria and North Macedonia without drawing these issues into the enlargement process, adding It is up to both countries to judge whether mediation by a third party is necessary.
“Should they come to this conclusion, Austria will always be ready to offer its good offices,” notes Schallenberg.
Regarding the non-paper on Balkan border revision allegedly drafted by Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Jansa, the Austrian FM sees no reason to make substantial comments on it because the document’s authorship is still uncertain.
“One thing must be clear however, and Austria is firm on that: The territorial integrity of Bosnia and Herzegovina is not at disposal under any circumstances,” says Schallenberg.
In the interview, which MIA will release in full on Saturday, FM Schallenberg also refers to Vienna’s role as coordinator for EU’s assistance in the Western Balkans and the announced delivery of 651,000 BioNTech/Pfizer vaccines for the region, including 119,000 doses for North Macedonia, as well as Austria’s position on the Digital Green Certificate, vaccine distribution in the EU, and whether the Union has failed the test of its own solidarity principles.
