We are disappointed from the decision of the Republic of Bulgaria to not support the adoption of North Macedonia’s negotiating framework, which goes against the 2017 Treaty of Friendship, Good-neighbourliness, and Cooperation, says the Government after a meeting of the Committee of Permanent Representatives (COREPER) on Friday did not produce an agreement over the issue due to the opposition of the Bulgarian ambassador.
We remain committed to the Treaty and convinced it represents an excellent framework for management of bilateral issues and offers mechanisms for overcoming of problems. In this regard, we are prepared to provide clarifications in order to remove concerns that have surfaced in the Republic of Bulgaria, says the Government.
The self-determination right, it adds, is our fundamental right. The Macedonian identity and the Macedonian language are a fact and should not be a matter of discussion, because our identity does not cause any aspirations to anyone, not now, not in the future.
The Government believes that enhanced communication and additional engagement would produce opportunities and exit solutions for the success of everyone – Macedonian integration, Republic of Bulgaria, the region and the European Union.
On the contrary, we will only have a shared failure that will seriously bring into question EU’s enlargement as its geo-strategic interest, says the Government.
Official Skopje is grateful for the strong engagement of the German Presidency and the strong support from all member-states to make this process a success, in the interest of the values that the European Union rests upon.
North Macedonia will not give up on the achievement of our strategic objective, shared and embraced by the European Union – start of the accession negotiations – and continues to be an active participant in the discussions over the coming days, within COREPER, the General Affairs Council and the European Council. We will once again clearly present our arguments in order to reaffirm the opportunities to overcome this situation. There is a strong commitment and focus from different stakeholders towards achieving a common European success, says the Government.
