The interim Bulgarian Prime Minister Galab Donev reminded Macedonian authorities that they undertook an obligation to amend its Constitution and add the Bulgarian nation in its preamble and that this is an obligation before the whole of the EU, not just Bulgaria.

Donev made the comment during a ceremony to mark the long delayed construction of a railway line linking both countries, as the Macedonian Government struggles to find the necessary votes to implement this latest concession.

This is one of the conditions that the country undertook not just with the bilateral treaty of friendship and cooperation but also by signing the so-called “French proposal”. This is an obligation not just toward Bulgaria but toward all other EU member states, Donev said.

When asked whether Bulgaria can, in return, give guarantees that this will be its last request and that it will stop vetoing Macedonia’s EU path, Donev refused to commit and said that the path to EU membership goes through unilateral agreement of all 27 EU member states.