Bulgaria’s Foreign Minister Velislava Petrova says that there is not enough political will in Skopje to implement what was agreed in the 2022 European compromise and assesses that confrontation and anti-Bulgarian rhetoric only delay the process of European integration.
In an interview with the Bulgarian daily newspaper Standard, Petrova recalls that in 2022 she was part of the team that represented the Bulgarian position before the European Union and says that Sofia managed to convince European partners to accept that position.
“The 2022 European compromise was a huge success because it was supported by a categorical inter-institutional consensus in Bulgaria,” Petrova said and added that achieving such a consensus was difficult and that, in her opinion, this gave additional weight to the agreement.
Petrova claims that Bulgaria is not setting new conditions for Macedonia and is not demanding anything outside the already established European framework. According to her, trust between the two countries can only be built through fulfilling the obligations undertaken and a constructive approach to resolving open issues.
The Bulgarian FM also criticizes the current rhetoric in relations between Skopje and Sofia, assessing that confrontation does not help Macedonia on its path to the European Union, but leads to a waste of time.
In the interview, Petrova also mentions the Iva Mihajlova case, assessing that the attitude of the Macedonian authorities in that case does not leave room for greater optimism that there may soon be more serious progress in relations between the two countries.
