In comments for the state run MIA news agency, Vlado Buckovski, who is the Government’s envoy to Bulgaria, said that he met Bulgarian officials in Sofia yesterday and that the Macedonian side will review the positions they raised. Buckovski is making his second trip to Sofia as envoy of Zoran Zaev, after Bulgaria blocked Macedonia from opening EU accession talks. The Zaev Government has remained tight lipped about the progress in the talks, and what information is made available to the Macedonian public mainly comes from Bulgarian sources.

My role as the special representative of Macedonia stems from the efforts of the Macedonian Government to reach a solution on the bilateral dispute with Bulgaria and to remove the obstacles to the opening of EU accession talks, Buckovski said.

He revealed that the two sides are discussing an action plan to implement the 2017 Zaev – Borisov treaty, which Bulgaria insists is being ignored by Macedonia. Buckovski focused on the positive in his comments, saying that Macedonia will make specific proposals to build the east – west Corridor 8 that connects the two countries, on education exchange, energy, culture, economic and IT cooperation. Bulgaria also demands major concessions from Macedonia in the areas of history and national identity, which have blocked progress. In response, Deputy Prime Minister Nikola Dimitrov, who is in charge of EU integration and who is fast becoming a pariah for Bulgaria, said that Macedonia should “take a break” from the dispute, at least until Bulgaria holds its elections in March. Buckovski’s mission to Sofia goes against Dimitrov’s announcement and he dismissed this idea in his remarks.

Regardless of the intensity of my travels and meetings, there is clear interest on both sides not to allow our relations to freeze or to communicate merely through the media or intermediaries. Our closeness as two nations and two countries with common moments in the past and shared views for the future pushes us to take steps to find a solution and such meetings are a step forward in this direction, Buckovski told MIA.

A next step would be a meeting of the committee formed between the two governments, where Bulgaria wants to have the action plan approved, with specific steps outlined for its implementation. Foreign Minister Bujar Osmani said that the meeting should take place in Skopje, but it is still being evaluated whether it is prepared sufficiently.