One of the obligations that the Macedonian side undertook on the 17th of this month in Sofia, envisages Skopje to confirm to the UN as soon as possible that the short and long name of the country refer only to the political entity “Republic of Macedonia”, and not to the geographical region “Macedonia”.

The Bulgarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs published this afternoon a list of obligations that the Macedonian side allegedly accepted during the meetings in Sofia on June 17.

According to the list of obligations, Macedonia should also finally withdraw its minority claims to Bulgaria, confirming that there are no historical, ethnic and other grounds for seeking minority status for any group of people who are not its citizens on the territory of the Republic of Bulgaria.

The obligations published by the Bulgarian Foreign Ministry also include Macedonia starting a process of rehabilitation of the victims of the Yugoslav communism, repressed on its territory due to their Bulgarian self-awareness. 

Moreover, Macedonia should adjust the content of its curricula with Bulgaria, in order to objectively reflect our common history, set as a central element in the preamble and the Good Neighborhood Agreement, and with a view to eliminating educational content that incites hatred towards Bulgaria and the Bulgarians.

Bulgaria was forced to postpone support for the start of Macedonia’s EU negotiations at the meeting of the General Affairs Council held on June 22, 2021. At the same meeting, Bulgaria gave a positive assessment of Albania’s achievements in the reform process and said “yes” to the adoption of its negotiating framework. Our country’s position on the European perspective of our close neighbor, the Republic of Macedonia, is consistent and clear. It is in line with our conviction that the EU enlargement policy should be based on meeting the Copenhagen criteria for membership in the Union and the principles of its own merits, the Bulgarian Foreign Ministry said.

The ministry also claims that Bulgaria’s support for EU enlargement with the Western Balkans remains a priority of Bulgarian foreign policy. In this regard, as it is pointed out, Sofia is ready to continue the dialogue with Skopje.