The Bulgarian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Nikolay Milkov, said that Bulgaria is freezing Macedonia’s EU assession negotiations.

Milkov says that he is withdrawing the Bulgarian ambassador Angel Angelov from Skopje indefinitely due to, according to Milkov, “the disturbing situation regarding the rights of Bulgarians there and the escalation of hate crimes and events in recent months.”

Bulgaria has suspended all interstate projects with Macedonia until it receives evidence that Skopje respects the rights of Bulgarians there. The decision comes after the beating of Macedonian Bulgarian Hristijan Pendikov in Ohrid, Bulgarian media reported.

At the meeting of the Foreign Affairs Committee, the Minister of Foreign Affairs Nikolaj Milkov and the Ambassador of Bulgaria to Macedonia Angel Angelov were heard.

In this case, Macedonia, in order to continue on its European path, must respect the commitments undertaken within the framework of the European proposal. There is no need for Bulgaria to do anything, but to ensure compliance with the obligations that Macedonia has undertaken. There are no deadlines in the proposal itself, they may not fulfill their obligations for decades, which means that negotiations will not start, says Milkov.