NEWS

Head of State: The inclusion of the Macedonian Bulgarians in the Republic of North Macedonia Constitution Will Help to Break with the Ideologies of the Totalitarian Past and Democratise the Country

I hope there will be humility, reason and dialogue between the parties in order to elect a National Assembly Speaker, the Radev said

I hope that the President of the Republic of North Macedonia (RNM) will realise that the inclusion of the Macedonian Bulgarians in the Constitution is helpful for breaking with the ideologies of the totalitarian past and for the democratisation of the country. This is what head of State Rumen Radev said in response to a journalist's question about Stevo Pendarovski's statement that there is no constructive dialogue between the two.  

Radev recalled Bulgaria's consistent efforts for the European integration of Bulgaria's south-western neighbour, as well as his numerous invitations in recent years to his opposite number to visit this country. President Pendarovski's only visit was within the framework of the official commissioning of the Greece-Bulgaria gas interconnection on 1 October 2022. Because of the assistance from the Bulgarian side, the RNM received then financial aid from the European Union for the purchase of electricity, the head of State stressed. He added that Bulgaria would continue to raise the issue of the effective respect of the rights of the Macedonian Bulgarians, and their inclusion in the RNM Constitution is a necessity for the RNM to start EU membership negotiations.

Not only do we not offer our MiG-29s to Ukraine, but our pilots continue to fly them, to be on duty on them and we do everything possible to repair them, the President said when asked about publications that this country had expressed readiness to donate its fighter jets to Ukraine. Had we offered our MiGs, they would now be in Ukraine together with the MiGs of Poland and Slovakia, the head of State added.

Responding to a question about the first session of the 49th National Assembly, the President said that the inability to elect a speaker would also lead to blocking the process of holding consultations with the political formations to form a government, as well as handing over an exploratory mandate. I hope there will be humility, reason and dialogue between the parties, Rumen Radev added. The President reiterated that there are urgent and imperative actions that the 49th National Assembly must take, both for the formation of a regular government and in terms of legislation.