The Protocol contains extremely ambitious measures, which in practice aim to solve many of the open issues. This is not a document in itself, but an integral part of the package of the so-called “French proposal”. Therefore, the work continued at the level of “experts” with a team from the Republic of North Macedonia, Bulgaria’s Minister TeodoraGenchovska said in Sofia at a press conference after the signing ceremony of the bilateral protocol for the implementation of the 2017 Good Neighborliness Treaty.
“When setting a date for the first intergovernmental conference by the Czech EU presidency, the Republic of North Macedonia will have a political intergovernmental conference. Only after this process will there be a second intergovernmental conference, after which the negotiation process will actually begin. This period depends on the RNM authorities, it can last three months, as it was during the change of the name of the state, it can last two years. Bulgaria does not deviate from its stance on the official language of the RNM. We fully respect the decision of the National Assembly, according to which Bulgaria does not recognize this language,” Genchovska stressed.
