European Parliament’s Committee on Foreign Affairs (AFET) has postponed the vote for the North Macedonia Report, drafted by rapporteur Ilhan Kyuchyuk following the European Commission Progress Report on the country.

“The vote has been postponed and there is no need to discuss this now”, said AFET chair David McAllister at the session.

In the report, Bulgarian Member of the European Parliament (MEP) Kyuchyuk welcomes North Macedonia’s continued commitment to EU integration while urging for calm, dignity, and maturity in bilateral relations.

About 320 amendments, of which 50 from Bulgarian MEPs, have been filed for the document, which puts 2030 as the date when the country would meet Union membership criteria.

In their amendments, the Bulgarian MEPs attempt to incorporate their positions in the report related to “hate speech against Bulgaria and Bulgarians”, as well as “discrimination, harassment, intimidation, and violence against members of the Bulgarian minority”. In addition, the amendments attempt to eliminate the part that calls for the negotiating process to not be abused for the settlement of bilateral disputes, putting the implementation of the Bulgaria Friendship Treaty as a criterion for North Macedonia’s EU accession instead.