Bulgarian President Rumen Radev has said his country will not accept any “ultimatum” in talks between Skopje and Brussels on Northern Macedonia joining the EU.
Sofia vetoed in late 2020 the start of talks on Northern Macedonia joining the European bloc, arguing that Skopje is not implementing a bilateral treaty signed in 2017.
“It is extremely inappropriate and futile for Bulgaria to be given ultimatums,” Radev told reporters in Sofia today, commenting on a statement by Northern Macedonian Foreign Minister Bujar Osmani.
According to Bulgarian media, Osmani reportedly said that by June – the end of the French EU presidency – there is a possibility of developing relations between Bulgaria and northern Macedonia.
Radev insisted that the conditions for the start of accession talks must be met. The veto also affected the start of the EU’s talks with Albania, which remain frozen.
The Bulgarian president also spoke of “external pressure” on Bulgaria and accused Northern Macedonia of “human rights violations (of ethnic Bulgarians), violation of the Copenhagen Criteria and hate speech”. This, he said, is incompatible with European principles and values.
According to the Copenhagen Criteria, Member States must meet certain conditions if they are to join the European Union, such as the existence of institutions for the maintenance of democratic governance and human rights.
Critics of Bulgarian Prime Minister Kirill Petkov, as well as nationalists, accuse him of wanting to lift the Bulgarian veto by the middle of the year due to “external pressure”.
Radev and Petkov are at loggerheads over a number of issues, most recently the issue of whether Sofia will send weapons to Ukraine. Radev, who is considered pro-Russian, opposes the arms shipment, while Petkov supports it.
SOURCE: ΑΠΕ-ΜΠΕ
Source: Capital
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