The Prime Minister of North Macedonia, Dimitar Kovachevski, accused Bulgaria of treating his country in the same way that Russia treats Ukraine.
“Bulgaria’s rhetoric regarding North Macedonia, unfortunately, is very similar to the rhetoric of the Russian Federation regarding Ukraine. It is unacceptable to use such baseless accusations for political purposes, especially at this critical moment in European history. North Macedonia is recognized worldwide as a successful modern multi-ethnic society and democracy, and all international human rights reports confirm this,” Dimitar Kovachevski said yesterday, speaking at the Council of Europe summit in Reykjavik, Iceland.
The reason for this position of the Prime Minister of North Macedonia was the accusations put forward from Reykjavik on the eve of the vice-president of Bulgaria Iliana Yotova in “systematic violation of the rights of Bulgarians in the Republic of North Macedonia.”
Relations between the two countries remain troubled.
For two years, Bulgaria blocked the start of negotiations on the accession of North Macedonia to the EU. due to open ethnic, linguistic and historical differences between the two countries, which caused a sharp reaction from Skopje.
However, the two countries reached an agreement last summer, based on a European Union proposal, under which Sofia would lift its veto to start negotiations on Skopje’s accession to the EU, on the condition that North Macedonia continues to amend its constitution. , with the inclusion of the Bulgarian minority living in the country.
The agreement has drawn strong reactions from North Macedonia’s largest opposition party, the right-wing VMRO-DPMNE, which has said it will not agree to such an amendment to the country’s constitution.
Amending the Constitution of North Macedonia requires a 2/3 majority in parliament, which the government in Skopje and the parties supporting the agreement with Bulgaria do not currently have.
According to the latest 2021 census in North Macedonia, Bulgarians make up only 0.2% of the country’s population (3,500 in total), which Sofia disputes and considers the percentage of Bulgarians in North Macedonia to be much higher.
Source: RES-IPE
Source: Kathimerini
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