President Rumen Radev meets with Oliver Varhelyi, European Commissioner for Neighbourhood and Enlargement
Bulgaria expects the numerous promises of the Republic of North Macedonia to start yielding results that will strengthen mutual trust and create sustainable preconditions for the promotion of good-neighbourly relations. This is what President Rumen Radev said at a meeting with the visiting European Commissioner for Neighbourhood and Enlargement, Oliver Varhelyi. Vice President Iliana Iotova also took part in the meeting.
Only real progress in the bilateral dialogue with Bulgaria and the fulfilment of the Copenhagen criteria for EU membership can push forward the process of European integration for our south-western neighbour, the Head of State said. Radev stressed that Bulgaria highly appreciated the contribution of the European Commission and the Commissioner for Neighbourhood and Enlargement to intensifying the bilateral dialogue between Bulgaria and the Republic of North Macedonia (RNM). Our country expects this dialogue to lead to concrete steps regarding the provision of constitutional guarantees for the real respect of the rights of the Macedonian Bulgarians, the cessation of hate speech against Bulgaria and Bulgarians, the preservation of the centuries-old Bulgarian cultural and historical heritage on the territory of the RNM, before agreeing to greenlight negotiations on the RNM's EU membership.
The new dynamism in the relations between Bulgaria and the RNM is a positive sign for both countries, as together with the development of common economic, transport and investment projects, the outstanding issues in the bilateral relations should be resolved, Rumen Radev further said. The President stressed that those decisions should have specific indicators and mechanisms that would take into account the preparedness of the RNM to start accession talks.