Prime Minister Kiril Petkov again cooled hopes that Bulgaria will lift the veto against Macedonia’s EU accession talks. While the Kovacevski Government is hoping that this may happen in June, Petkov said that there is a position of his entire coalition, which includes parties that a far more hardline than he is.

We have a clearly written coalition agreement that will be strictly respected. All our actions will be in line with this agreement. As Prime Minister, I have no right to sign any treaties and I will not try to do so, Petkov said.

He still added that Bulgaria needs to be responsible toward security in the Balkans, given the war in Ukraine. Petkov said that Macedonia will have to guarantee respect for the rights of the Bulgarian minority and that the EU will vouch for this obligation.