In regard to the chance of a breakthrough between North Macedonia and Bulgaria that would allow the start of North Macedonia’s EU accession talks on June 22 in the EU Council, FM Bujar Osmani said that it would depend on Bulgaria’s political mandate to make this decision before the elections, in what direction the roadmap will be and what would be the content of the roadmap.
“Our approach incorporates all cards to be put on the table to achieve a breakthrough in June, but these three factors will be crucial to the outcome,” Osmani said in an interview with Alsat-M’s 360 degree TV programme.
Osmani did not hide that Bulgaria wants the roadmap to be part of the formal negotiation process of North Macedonia, but said that other EU member states oppose it, because a possible precedent in the Macedonian case could be an introduction to similar situations in the future, as there are still bilateral disputes between countries in the region.
Regarding the joint trip of North Macedonia’s President Stevo Pendarovski and Bulgaria’s President Rumen Radev to Rome, he considered that it is an important step in building trust and normalizing communication between the two sides, which, as he said, has obviously deteriorated in the past. That meeting had symbolism, but also essence “because all issues and ways to overcome the blockade could be discussed openly”.
“Clearly, only the President of Bulgaria has a full political mandate, all other institutions have a technical mandate related to organizing elections. However, I often say that the interim government is not a state election commission and cannot decide on opening negotiations, but here President Radev is very important and therefore that communication in Rome was very important and it continues at all levels – there was communication between the Prime Ministers, we exchanged certain documents with the Minister of Foreign Affairs, we expect a meeting of the Prime Ministers and the Ministers in the coming days and possibly to agree a dynamic in order to find a solution in the next 20 days,” Osmani noted.
Asked about what dynamics is expected, whether a document is considered to make a breakthrough, Osmani said that so far, the only proposal is offered from the Portuguese EU Presidency, which he said, “we assessed as a good basis that addresses the sensitivities of all three sides – ours, the Bulgarian and the EU member states that have made a significant contribution to this process, with a central roadmap that should provide certain predictability in the implementation of the Friendship Treaty,” FM Osmani said in an interview.
