Unstable relations with neighboring Northern Macedonia, together with the low level of vaccination and the fight against corruption, are the main challenges that the former entrepreneur will have to deal with. Harvard graduate and new Bulgarian Prime Minister Kiril Petkov, assesses the Brussels portal “Politico” in review of the newly elected Government of Bulgaria.
In the part of the analysis dedicated to the relations with Northern Macedonia, “Politico” states that Prime Minister Petkov wants to take a more effective approach to the country.
– After many years of controversy, the EU last year agreed to invite Northern Macedonia and Albania to start membership negotiations. However, Bulgaria has blocked negotiations over a history and language dispute with northern Macedonia. This prevented Northern Macedonia and Albania from taking the next key step in the membership process – the adoption of the negotiating framework, which is a precondition for the start of negotiations by holding the first intergovernmental conferences, according to the Brussels portal.
The review notes that Bulgaria’s move has caused disappointment in the Balkans as well as in Brussels, where supporters of enlargement say Sofia undermines trust in the Union and leaves a political vacuum in the region for Russia, Turkey and China, which want to expand their impact.
“Although the new Bulgarian government does not plan to give up its demands for the historic disputes with Northern Macedonia, Petkov announced that his goal is to expand the dialogue and use economic cooperation to improve relations,” Politico said.
The portal adds that Petkov plans the new approach to be linked to “strengthening Bulgaria’s existing positions” and would like the commissions reviewing the relations to “work very hard over the next six months”, but refuses to give a deadline for completing the process.
– I think that no government, at the moment, can just stand in front of its people and say: “All right, forget about all the problems, let’s just sign the agreement”, because such a government will be changed quickly, reports “Politico” Petkov’s statement.
Petkov, according to the portal, believes that people should be shown why cooperation is useful. – I want to be able to fly directly from Sofia to Skopje, not through Vienna. I want to establish the first railway connection or if possible at least a plan for it. “We want to have a common cultural calendar,” the Bulgarian prime minister added in a statement.
The election of the new Bulgarian government is also referred to by Radio France International (RFI), pointing out that Petkov presents himself as a strong pro-European, who wants to make progress “on an extremely sensitive issue for his country: Northern Macedonia’s accession to the European Union – something which Bulgaria opposes. ”
In the analysis, RFI quotes a statement by French expert on the Balkans Nadezh Ragaru, who said that Petkov’s tactics were not to focus the talks only on historical issues, but also “to offer real economic cooperation between the two countries and real infrastructure development.”
– From this point of view, the two countries have common interests. To shine in the region of Southeast Europe, Bulgaria, for its part, must have more developed transport links. Thus, we hope that through joint projects, probably in the coming months, Bulgaria will lift the veto on the Republic of Northern Macedonia, adds Ragaru.
– In an interview with the “Financial Times”, Petkov gave himself six months to complete the process. The opportunity for that will be the Summit for the Balkans, which will be held in France in June next year, concludes RFI.
Source: MIA
