Bulgarian Foreign Minister Ekaterina Zaharieva confirmed Thursday that yesterday’s talks with her Macedonian counterpart Bujar Osmani focused on the joint action plan and the holding of the bilateral intergovernmental conference.
After reaffirming Sofia’s principled support for North Macedonia’s EU integration bid, according to a Foreign Ministry’s press release after the meeting, Zaharieva on Thursday told Bulgaria’s BTV that her country won’t yield to the pressure from North Macedonia.
Also, Zaharieva revealed that no agreement has been reach on history, several key historical figures and textbooks, particularly lectures covering the medieval era, MIA’s Sofia correspondent reports.
She confirmed that she discussed organizing the coming intergovernmental conference with Osmani yesterday, adding that its date should be unveiled by the two countries.
“The EU doesn’t function like Yugoslavia, it functions differently and this is what we are trying to tell the Republic of North Macedonia since 2019. We have no impression that they expect the government to change,” said Zaharieva.
The Bulgarian top diplomat said they also discussed the action plan, which is in its final stages, according to the authorities in the country.
“I hope we’ll come to an agreement regarding the protocol to assess the implementation until now. The protocol for assessing the Commission’s work should be approved at the coming session. They [Joint Interdisciplinary Commission] should meet Thursday and Friday,” FM Zaharieva said, adding no progress has been made so far.
By FM Osmani’s request, Zaharieva met with him, who returned to North Macedonia en route Bulgaria, the country’s Foreign Ministry said Wednesday.
“Bilateral relations, the Republic of North Macedonia’s European perspective and the challenges we are facing during the COVID-19 pandemic were discussed at their informal meeting,” said the press release.
According to the Bulgarian Foreign Ministry, Zaharieva upheld the principled support of Sofia for North Macedonia’s EU integration with adequate conditions being met.
“The two ministers reviewed joint activities for meeting the obligations from the 2017 Friendship Treaty and discussed the upcoming intergovernmental conference, set to take place as soon as the two sides approve the draft-protocol. According to the 2017 agreement, Bulgaria said that the joint intergovernmental commission at the next meeting should review the agreement’s implementation, adopt the annual report on the work of the joint interdisciplinary commission of experts on historical and educational issues, and propose future activities for cooperation,” stated the press release.
The two ministers also welcomed the constructive atmosphere of their meetings and the meetings of diplomats from the two ministries, said the Bulgarian Foreign Ministry.
