Zaev: Good neighbourliness continues – there is no turning back

The Agreement for Friendship and Good neighbourliness has brought many benefits for North Macedonia and Bulgaria and it has ended a system that had poisoned the relations between the two countries. The historic facts regarding our shared history are clear and this cannot be avoided. The Commission must do its work and for this, it has support from both me and Boyko Borisov, says Prime Minister Zoran Zaev in an interview for BGNES.

Skopje, July 23rd (MIA) – The Agreement for Friendship and Good neighbourliness has brought many benefits for North Macedonia and Bulgaria and it has ended a system that had poisoned the relations between the two countries. The historic facts regarding our shared history are clear and this cannot be avoided. The Commission must do its work and for this, it has support from both me and Boyko Borisov, says Prime Minister Zoran Zaev in an interview for BGNES. In the interview Prime Minister Zaev underlined that Corridor 8 is to be finally realized, most of all, the railway connecting Skopje and Sofia. Zaev reflected on the role of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church in resolving the problem with the status of the Macedonian Orthodox Church. Friendship Agreement after Two Years Prime Minister Zaev emphasized that in the past two years as of the signing of the Friendship Agreement many things have changed, in positive direction and he expects that this will continue in future. -Bulgaria can help us a lot in the process of European integration and has already been very helpful. It was the first country that argued within the European Commission for us to receive a date for commencement of negotiations. Bulgaria has shared its overall experience from the process of accession negotiations. It was one of the first countries that had ratified the NATO Accession Protocol – it showed its friendship. I believe that we are also showing ours, said Zaev. The Agreement, according to him, has put an end to the system that was established in 1945 and has poised the bilateral relations for decades. -Both countries have structures that are not happy with the new events; they are part from the past, and there are also structures that are more oriented towards East, states Prime Minister Zaev. He points out that in the past two years a great progress has been achieved in trade and cooperation in the culture. Only in the first ten months in 2018, the bilateral trade has increased by 16.96% compared to 2017. -This is a great percentage and it speaks of the possibilities that we have created for furthering the economic cooperation, says Zaev. The cultural cooperation is increasing – Bulgarian theatre productions have been presented in North Macedonia and vice versa, Macedonian in Bulgaria, and there are other events that contribute to bringing the two people closer. Corridor 8 is Irreversible Process On the infrastructural connectivity and Corridor 8, Zaev says that this is an irreversible process and that the Macedonian party works actively on this; mostly on the construction of railway from Kumanovo to the Bulgarian border which needs to be released and placed in operation no later than 2025. -North Macedonia has secured 580 million EUR for construction of the railway from Kumanovo to the Bulgarian border. This will give us a railway line from Skopje to Sofia. The deadline for releasing this railway line is 2025. The first phase is already under construction. At the moment, we are approaching the second phase for what we have received a grant in the amount of 68.7 million EUR from WBIF. The third phase is the largest and it costs 405 million EUR. We have a grant of 60 million EUR from IPA and a loan of 345 million EUR. We signed agreements with the European Investment Bank and the EBRD. This is enormous amount of money for North Macedonia, said Zaev. Furthermore, he added that in parallel, an express way is built from Kumanovo to the Bulgarian border. – The road will be completed in two years and we will no longer travel on roads with potholes when we want to visit Sofia or Skopje, said Zaev. On Shared History Regarding the events from the history and their shared celebration, Zaev expects that the Joint Expert Commission will continue its work and soon enough, there will be results on the disputed issues.

-The Committee on Historical Issues has been established to construct friendship between the two nations. The Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov and I, encourage the historians to do their work. We have already reached an agreement for certain historical persons – the Holy Brothers Cyril and Methodius, St. Clement and Tsar Samoil. We signed the Agreement, we are building friendship, cooperation and good-neighbourliness. In such context, the commission must only build on this, said Prime Minister Zaev, adding that he is convinced that in September, the Commission will achieve results on the open issues. The Bulgarian Orthodox Church Provides Priceless Contribution In the interview Prime Minister Zaev reflects the role the Bulgarian Orthodox Church plays in resolving the status of the Macedonian Orthodox Church. -The Bulgarian Orthodox Church takes bold steps with regards to our Macedonian Orthodox Church – the Archbishopric of Ohrid. The Bulgarian episcopes are visiting the Macedonian churches and the Macedonian episcopes visit the Bulgarian. Our citizens are religious and while seeing the two churches have good cooperation, they support this friendship, says Zaev. Moreover, he underlined that North Macedonia, as a sovereign state, has the right to separate and autonomous church. The Future of Prespa Agreement Speaking of the Prespa Agreement and the expectations from the new Government in Greece, Zaev sees as positive the first signals coming from the newly elected Greek Prime Minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis. -When the Agreement was ratified, Mitsotakis expressed as opposed to it; however, if the Greek Parliament ratifies it, and this involves international ratification, then, we must look forward. I believe that in due time, the Agreement will provide positive contributions for both North Macedonia and Greece, says Macedonian Prime Minister. The Balkan is not a Powder Keg – it is a European Region Prime Minister Zaev reminds that the past of the Balkans has shown what changes in borders mean – death, demolition, refugees. In his opinion, the region has changed and it is no longer a European powder keg. -The Balkan became European. Everyone must find positive solution to the problems. We set an example on this, by reaching Agreements with Bulgaria and Greece. I believe the other countries must move in the same direction, says Zaev. North Macedonia supports decisions intended to build friendship and ever-lasting peace, thus providing greater regional cooperation and integration of the region within the EU. – This is a solution that will secure safety for Albanians and Serbs, as well as for all other people who live in the Balkan, stated Zaev. Case “Reket” When asked of the case “Reket” and the information published in the media that Sofia allegedly requires protection of the businessman Orce Kamchev who is under investigation, Zaev claims that there is no such thing. -Boyko Borisov has not called me with regards to the Macedonian businessman, Orce Kamchev, who is under investigation. He would not allow such thing, because he is a European Prime Minister and complies with the rule of law. We are a European country and we want to speak of the future and creating modern policy. This is a policy adopted by Macron and Merkel – policy oriented towards the future, policy that provides perspectives for the young people – concluded Prime Minister Zaev in his interview for BGNES.