MEP Andrey Kovachev: The problem with RNM is the lack of fulfillment of the Good Neighbourly Relations Treaty, not the caretaker government

The European integration of the Republic of North Macedonia is important not only for Bulgaria, but for the whole region and the EU. Bulgaria signed the Good Neighbourly Relations Treaty with Skopje in 2017 precisely in order to pave the way for Macedonia's faster accession as a member of the EU. In 2018, the first Bulgarian Presidency of the Council of the EU focused on lobbying for this accession.

Unfortunately, since 2017, the authorities in Skopje have done nothing to implement the Treaty. The joint academic commission has been blocked and does not work. Hate speech against Bulgaria has intensified.

The problem behind this low point in the relations between the two countries is not the fact that there is a caretaker government in Bulgaria, as Zoran Zaev believes. The problem is that Skopje has done nothing to implement the Good Neighbourly Relations Treaty with Bulgaria. On the contrary, it is investing efforts to lobby against Bulgaria, to distort the perception of the Bulgarian position and put pressure on Sofia. Our argument is not about the current identity and language. The treaty states the common history of the present two peoples. A common Bulgarian history, not shared, not intertwined, but common to the same ethnic group in the past. This ethnic group had an unfortunate fate and was cruelly divided by the Great Powers at the beginning of the 20th century.

Everyone has a right to self-determination. Our ancestors had the same right as the people of today. Hatred and disunity can only be overcome through European integration and the courage to accept the facts as they were. That is what the Treaty, which has to be respected, says. Skopje has had plenty of time since 2017 uptil now to do so. Using the caretaker government as an excuse is untenable. I think the same applies to any expectations that the next Bulgarian government will accept any lies. The facts are sacred! /BGNES

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Andrey Kovachev, MEP