Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov urged Macedonia to make additional concession before Bulgaria will allow the opening of EU accession talks.

The necessary compromises must be made, like others were made before. We owe it to current and future generations to make sure that the Republic of “North” Macedonia, Albania and the countries of the Western Balkans are not stopped on their way to the European Union, Borisov said after meeting Macedonian Foreign Minister Bujar Osmani.

Bulgaria demands that Macedonian historians declare that the legendary VMRO leader Goce Delcev was a Bulgarian, and the delay in delivering this request has prompted it to send a strongly worded memorandum to the European Union that details its view of Macedonians and the Macedonian language – issues that are likely to appear in the course of the accession talks.

Osmani is in Sofia to see if Bulgaria could be moved to approve the opening of accession talks before the end of the year. Borisov warned that much work needs to be done and urged for concrete talks at all political levels. “We can’t make history a broken bridge that Macedonia won’t be able to cross, it should be a bridge of friendship. There is no time for political games, it is important to use the momentum of the German Presidency”, Borisov said, adding that the world expects Macedonia and Bulgaria to reach an agreement.

The Bulgarian Prime Minister also expressed his strong dissatisfaction that his country is urged to respect verdicts of the European Court of Human Rights, that ruled against Bulgaria in its decision to block the registration of Macedonian cultural and political groups. The issue rose to the surface as Bulgaria is facing allegations that it is violating the rule of law in the European Parliament.