Republic of North Macedonia’s Foreign Minister Bujar Osmani in an exclusive interview for BNT

Exclusively for BNT, the Foreign Minister of the Republic of North Macedonia, Bujar Osmani, on January 17, said that the agenda of the meeting between Bulgaria’s Prime Minister Kiril Petkov and N Macedonia’s Prime Minister Dimitar Kovachevski, as well as the talks from now on may include changes in the way of working, structure and composition of the Joint Commission on historical and educational issues.

Skopje's top diplomat stressed that relations between the two countries should not enter into a state of frozen conflict.

Bulgaria’s PM Kiril Petkov will meet with PM Dimitar Kovachevski's new government on its first working day, Foreign Minister Bujar Osmani explained.

The two sides will discuss economy, infrastructure, transport and energy connectivity, as well as the insurmountable problem: history. Skopje will raise the issue of possible changes to the Commission on historical issues.

"I am inclined to suggest that we enter into a conversation about a possible change in the way we work, and why not the structure and composition of the Joint Commission on Historical Issues," Osmani said.

Any change in the structure and approach of the commission's work will not be tied to specific deadlines, he said.

Bujar Osmani believes that in the deteriorating environment of the Balkans, the Republic of Bulgaria and the Republic of North Macedonia should not leave unresolved problems in the region.

Osmani reminded that it was Bulgaria that raised the issue of European integration of the Western Balkans in 2018.

Commenting on the request for the inclusion of people with Bulgarian identity among the state-building peoples in the Constitution of the Republic of North Macedonia, Bujar Osmani believes that his country is known for the great collective rights of different nationalities.

Special institutions listed in Protocol Five Plus One, on which both countries have been working for months, could monitor for hate speech on both sides.

"We are no longer in an alliance with Yugoslavia, but we want to enter into an alliance with Bulgaria. All issues in our attitude towards Bulgaria left over from Yugoslav times need to be corrected," the RNM foreign minister said.

"It has not been so clearly explained to the people of the Republic of North Macedonia that we are not negotiating identity and language," Bujar Osmani said.

Osmani gave the exclusive interview for BNT hours after Dimitar Kovachevski's new government was sworn in and met with President Stevo Pendarovski.