The meeting of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe of the center right EPP party in Strasbourg was on the verge of incident after Bulgarian representatives angrily reacted to the positions taken by VMRO-DPMNE Vice President Aleksandar Nikoloski.

Because of Bulgaria’s veto against Macedonia in the EU accession process, that is dragging out the integration of other countries as well, Nikoloski said that Bulgaria needs to face sanctions. This angered the Bulgarian representatives, who wanted to stop him from speaking. But given that Nikoloski is Vice President of the EPP in the assembly, he was supported by the heads of the party and allowed to speak.

Nikoloski particularly focused on the fact that Bulgaria is ignoring decisions from the European Court for Human Rights, ordering it to allow the registration of Macedonian organizations. Nikoloski said that the Council of Europe must hand out sanctions to Bulgaria for this violation of the rule of law, just as it does with other countries that ignore court orders.