Another provocation by North Macedonia aimed at raising tensions between Skopje and Sofia

Another provocation by the Republic of North Macedonia, aimiing to raise tensions between Skopje and Sofia. In an interview, Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Nikolovski denies the common history and calls the Bulgarians uncivilized. President Rumen Radev reacted to this by saying that certain circles in Skopje are apparently concerned about the open and constructive dialogue during his meeting with the president of North Macedonia last week. The Bulgarian foreign ministry has informed our European partners about the unprovoked provocations aimed at destroying the dialogue. Bulgarian parties have demanded resignations in Skopje, an apology and the intervention of our European partners.

In an interview with Macedonia's Alpha TV, Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of North Macedonia Alexander Nikolovski accused the Bulgarian parties and the President of trying to extract political dividends at the expense of Skopje before the elections. According to Nikolovski, during the meeting between Rumen Radev and Gordana Siljanovska, the hosts did not show respect.

Aleksander Nikolovski - Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Transport of North Macedonia: "The host is neither civilized, nor polite, nor respectful, so the situation is what it is. Only those servants in our country who signed that the Macedonian and Bulgarian people have a shared history, which they do not have, are more miserable than them. The same ones who agreed with their signatures that the Macedonian language is a dialect of the Bulgarian language and that we will never enter the European Union if we do not admit that we are Bulgarians and have Bulgarian roots are now talking about patriotism."

Bulgarian Presidency circulated a message saying that the open and constructive dialogue, even at an informal meeting such as the one held between the Presidents of Bulgaria and the Republic of North Macedonia on 13 September, apparently greatly worries certain circles in Skopje:

The manipulation of the facts and the hysterical reactions of North Macedonia’s government do not inspire optimism that our south-western neighbour wants relations with Bulgaria to leave the field of provocations and staged scandals.

The "civility" of the new government of the Republic of North Macedonia is yet to be judged by whether it will continue to be part of the campaigns to incite hate speech against Bulgaria or counter them, by its ability to respect international treaties and by its real commitment to the Copenhagen criteria for EU membership. Belonging to a united Europe requires real will, systematic efforts and specific results.”

Ministry of Foreign Affairs responded:

"Our partners are notified of the unprovoked provocations aimed at, among other things, destroying the dialogue. We once again recall the crucial importance of the development of good neighbourly relations for the European future of the Republic of North Macedonia."

GERB described Nikolovski's words as yet another provocation by the Republic of north Macedonia aimed at destroying good neighbourly relations and the achievements made so far.

Daniel Mitov, GERB-UDF: "We have to respond as firmly as possible and without emotions and without overreaction. For such an insulting qualification in a European country a minister gets dismissed, instantly and on the spot, resignations are thrown."

Skopje should understand that if it wants to join the EU, it should respect the written bilateral and international agreements, ‘We Continue the Change-Democratic Bulgaria’ (WCC-DB) said.

Asen Vassilev, WCC-DB: "Europe should come up with a reaction, in fact our foreign ministry should work with Europe. But this is no longer a problem between Bulgaria and North Macedonia, but between North Macedonia and Europe and Bulgarian interests are protected by Europe. And this is what the Macedonians have to understand - if they want to join the EU, there are agreements and these agreements have to be respected."

According to the chair of the parliamentary group of the Movement for Rights and Freedoms, Delyan Peevski, after yet another unacceptable arrogance by, in his words, the pro-Russian Mitkoski regime, the ambassador of the Republic of North Macedonia should be recalled immediately until Bulgaria and the Bulgarians receive a proper apology for the insults against the Bulgarian state and people.

The Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) said Nikolovski's words were unacceptable and did not contribute to our good neighbourly relations.

Ivan Ivanov - deputy chair of the ‘BSP for Bulgaria’ parliamentary group. I can also say it as a historian that every statement about the lack of a common history is a lie and a falsification."

Such rhetoric shows that the Republic of North Macedonia has no place in the EU, is the conclusion of "There is Such a People".

Toshko Yordanov – Chair of "There is Such a People" parliamentary group: "The treaty has been signed, the rules are clear, they have agreed and now our European partners should react extremely strongly and state the same position that until they start to respect their treaties, they have no place and negotiating chapters will not be opened at all."

Tomorrow, North Macedonia’s Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski will hold meetings in Brussels.