Relations with Macedonia will be the main topic of the extraordinary council of coalition partners in the Bulgarian government to be held tonight in Sofia at the request of Prime Minister Kiril Petkov, BNR reported.

Petkov is expected to explain to his partners why he asked Bulgarian President Rumen Radev to convene the National Security Consultative Council and present what has been achieved so far in the dialogue with Skopje.

Petkov announced the convening of a meeting of the coalition council during his visit to Rome and the Vatican on May 24, as well as information from the Bulgarian Foreign Ministry on the course of talks with Macedonia.

Ahead of tonight’s meeting, some of the Government partners stated that they would not support a change in Sofia’s position towards Skopje and the lifting of the EU veto.

Stanislav Balabanov from Slavi Trifonov’s “There is such a people” party said that they will hear what Petkov has to say, but their position is clear and based on the position determined by the declaration of the 44th National Assembly and the Presidential Advisory Council.

Bulgarian Parliament Deputy Speaker Kristian Vigenin, a member of the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) and former foreign minister, also said Bulgaria had no reason to lift its veto on starting EU membership talks because no progress had been reached. 

According to him, the position of the Bulgarian Prime Minister Petkov to convene a new session of the National Security Council over the negotiations with Macedonia is unacceptable, just to see if there is a positive plan for the development of relations, because one cannot just “sit on both sides of the border and wait for something to happen.”

We have no reason to say that the veto should be lifted. If nothing happens, there is no way we can lift the veto. We must achieve our goals. That is the position of the BSP, Vigenin added.