Macedonian and Bulgarian delegations, led by Presidents Stevo Pendarovski and Rumen Radev, will visit Rome and the Holy See for a joint observance of Ss. Cyril and Methodius.
On Thursday, Pendarovski and Radev will lay flowers at the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore to jointly honor Ss. Cyril and Methodius.
The joint visit is seen as a step to ease relations between the two countries at a time when a Portuguese proposal is on the table to resolve the dispute between Skopje and Sofia and unblock North Macedonia’s European integration process.
This year, the joint observance by the delegations of the two countries was not held on May 24 – the Day of Ss. Cyril and Methodius, but a few days later due to the health protocols of the head of the Roman Catholic Church, Pope Francis. On the Day of Ss. Cyril and Methodius, a delegation of the Macedonian Orthodox Church-Ohrid Archbishopric, led by Bishop Pimen, held a service at St. Cyril’s grave.
Pendarovski and Radev are travelling together to Rome on Wednesday. A delegation led by President Radev will arrive in Skopje and briefly meet with President Pendarovski at the airport, before departing with a Bulgarian aircraft, alongside a group of Bulgarian and Macedonian journalist, to the Italian capital.
Later on Wednesday, Pendarovski will hold a meeting with Italian President Sergio Mattarella in Rome, which will be followed by a media statement.
As part of Wednesday’s visit, a cooperation agreement is to be signed between North Macedonia’s Media Information Agency (MIA) and Bulgaria’s News Agency (BTA). MIA’s director Dragan Antonovski and BTA’s director Kiril Volchev will sign the agreement. Presidents Pendarovski and Radev will attend the signing event.
President Pendarovski on Thursday will hold a separate meeting with the head of the Catholic Church, Pope Francis, and also meet with Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin. Following the meetings, Pendarovski will lay flowers at the grave of St. Cyril in the Basilica of San Clemente in Rome.
The delegation led by President Pendarovski includes Foreign Minister Bujar Osmani, Minister of Culture Irena Stefoska, Head of the Committee for relations with religious communities and groups, Darijan Sotirovski, the Macedonian Orthodox Diocese of Europe head Metropolitan Pimen, and priest Zoran Stojanov.
Last week, Pendarovski said the visit was a good symbolic gesture by both sides that could relax the atmosphere in the lead-up to negotiations between the two countries regarding the blockade on EU accession.
According to Pendarovski, the two will travel together to Rome not in order to conduct negotiations or resolve the dispute, but to jointly honor Ss. Cyril and Methodius.
He said that since he and President Radev will spend time together during the travel, it’s inevitable that the issue will be brought up. However, he noted, it will be an informal conversation.
Radev, who took part in the summit of EU leaders in Brussels on Monday and Tuesday, commenting on the coming visit to Rome alongside Pendarovski, said they would demonstrate their “joint will for cooperation.”
On Tuesday, President Radev said progress in the issue of North Macedonia’s start of EU accession negotiations is expected in the second half of June, but high-level dialogue between Sofia and Skopje should continue as soon as possible.
