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The new prime ministers of North Macedonia and Bulgaria agreed Tuesday to redouble efforts to improve relations between the Balkan neighbors, which soured after Bulgaria blocked North Macedonia’s bid to join the European Union.
Bulgarian Prime Minister Kiril Petkov’s visit to Skopje came only two days after North Macedonia’s parliament confirmed the country’s new cabinet, led by Social Democrat leader Dimitar Kovachevski.
The two prime ministers told a joint press conference in Skopje that their “common goal is to create a better future” for both countries.
At the airport in Skopje, the Bulgarian Prime Minister was welcomed by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of North Macedonia, Bujar Osmani.
The simmering dispute came to a head in 2020, after EU member Bulgaria vetoed the start of its small neighbor’s formal accession talks with the 27-nation bloc. Bulgaria argued that Skopje had failed to honor parts of a friendship deal signed in 2017, particularly regarding shared history, and language.
This was deeply resented in Skopje, which had just recently settled a similar, decades-old dispute with neighboring EU member Greece that had cleared the way for North Macedonia to seek bloc membership. Under that deal, the country changed its name from the previous “Macedonia,” which Greece had said implied claims on its own territory and history.
“We have promised each other that we will use new energy to improve our relations with respect,” Kovachevski said. He added that both governments will have a joint meeting in Sofia on Jan. 25 with a plan to form joint working groups for cooperation in economic issues, infrastructure, European integration, trade, education, culture and history.
“I’m a huge optimist for the new dynamics (in relations) and can assure you that the results will be visible every week,” said Petkov, who received the mandate to form a government last month.
Kovachevski told reporters that Bulgaria has agreed to call its neighbor “North Macedonia,” — in addition to the lengthier formal version of “Republic of North Macedonia” — in bilateral communications. Until now Sofia had claimed that the shorter name implied territorial aspirations toward Bulgaria.
“Resolving the issue on the usage of the short name is the first huge step in our chapter, and this move provides optimism for the future,” Kovachevski said.
Sofia also insists that North Macedonia’s ethnic Bulgarian minority must be constitutionally recognized — like other minorities in the country — but rejects its neighbor’s argument that a Macedonian minority also exists in Bulgaria.
Osmani: We are no longer in the Yugoslav Union, we are entering into an Alliance with Bulgaria
“We are no longer in the Yugoslav Union, we are entering into an alliance with the Republic of Bulgaria. We have already joined NATO, we are allies in NATO, and we want to join the EU. And we want to build our relationship in that direction. So all the issues inherited from the Yugoslav attitude towards Bulgaria should not be transferred to our independent Republic of North Macedonia,” Macedonian Foreign Minister Bujar Osmani told BNT.
All this must be corrected through a process of goodwill and trust. We agree to do so, Osmani announced.
According to him, “the new dynamics, the new chapter in our relations, which is now being opened by the two governments – of Sofia and Skopje, should be reflected in the Joint Expert Commission on Historical and Educational Issues: Will this be in the structure of the commission, whether in the way it works, refreshment is needed.”
We need to bring back political cooperation, a positive atmosphere, communication between people. This will create a new perspective – and on the part of historians, said Bujar Osmani.
Regarding the insistence of officials from Sofia on “the full equality of the Macedonian Bulgarians with the other peoples of the Republic of North Macedonia, explicitly written in their constitution,” Osmani commented:
“In the world, the Republic of North Macedonia is known as the country with the highest degree of collective rights of citizens. Here, you know, I belong to the Albanian community in the Republic of North Macedonia. And I can say that we have really achieved ethnic communities to have the highest degree of integration in society and the opportunity to realize their rights to identity, culture, etc. We are proud of this image of us, this opportunity we have created in our society, and we absolutely share the view that this should apply to every group of citizens, every community, including the Bulgarian community. The Ohrid Framework Agreement changed the attitude of the state towards the communities and I think that no one should be excluded. On the contrary, everyone should be able to enter the process of integration of communities into our common multicultural and multiethnic society.” / Argumentum.al
