Bulgaria has always been good to North Macedonia and has helped it in hard times. We’ll continue to do so, Bulgarian Foreign Minister Ekaterina Zakharieva told television channel bTV on Sunday.
“We’re saying ‘no’ to start of talks, not to North Macedonia’s EU membership. At the moment, we believe the country’s not ready to meet criteria for starting negotiations,” Minister Zakharieva said.
According to her, Skopje has failed to implement Friendship Treaty provisions and has continued to spew hate towards Sofia. Therefore, she added, there’s no way for Bulgaria to say “yes” at this stage of the process.
“No one is questioning their right to self-determination and language, but that right should not be based on hate and negation of Bulgaria and the Bulgarian language. The way they’re headed, they will soon start denying the existence of the Bulgarian nation,” Zakharieva stressed.
