At the moment, Bulgaria can’t support the start of North Macedonia’s EU accession negotiations, Bulgarian Foreign Minister Ekaterina Zakharieva told television channel bTV on Thursday.
She underlined that Bulgaria approves the EU integration of Western Balkan countries, but added that support for North Macedonia “was never unconditional.”
“The Friendship Treaty with North Macedonia was signed in 2017, but its provisions aren’t being implemented,” the FM noted, adding that Bulgaria has on several occasions in the past few months stressed the possibility of not supporting the first intergovernmental conference and North Macedonia’s EU negotiating framework.
Moreover, Zakharieva firmly denied the option that Bulgaria might change its position regarding this issue due to outside influence.
She stressed the need for implementation of the Friendship Treaty, adding that “not acknowledging historical truth seriously strains bilateral issues.
“Despite speculation, we had no claim over what the people of North Macedonia call themselves and their language. The Treaty states that we have a shared history,” Zakharieva said, noting that Bulgaria also has shared history with Greece and Turkey, but these differ from the one with North Macedonia.
