Macedonian Minister of Foreign Affairs Bujar Osmani participated in the first session of the formal EU Foreign Affairs Council with the ministers from the Western Balkans. Osmani said that it was up to Bulgaria to use the political moment to save the EU credibility in the region.
Minister Osmani told news agency MIA that he warned his EU counterparts about the economic and political consequences of this conflict in the region, as well as the need to save the EU credibility right now, by unblocking the negotiation process with North Macedonia. . For the Macedonian side, it is Bulgaria’s move now, since North Macedonia had fulfilled everything that was asked of it.
“I will repeat, the ball is in Bulgaria’s court now. The Republic of Bulgaria has to decide whether to use this moment for the whole region after these events in Ukraine, whether the EU will take strategic leadership in the region. The Republic of North Macedonia was a constructive partner in these talks, in meeting these criteria. I’m afraid that this moment we have now may be lost. As I said at the Foreign Affairs Council, the biggest gift for Russia will be to destroy the EU credibility in the region,” Osmani told MIA.
