Bulgarian Prime Minister Kiril Petkov faced an embarrassing moment when European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said, during their joint press conference, that minority rights are one of the fundamental European values. She also reminded that a decision to open EU accession talks with Macedonia was made by the European Council all the way back in 2020.

Bulgaria continues to block Macedonia from opening the accession talks, and demands Macedonia to meet numerous requests, such as rewriting its own history and altering its national identity. But the Bulgarian demands also include elevating the Bulgarian community in Macedonia to the level of a constituent nation. This is in stark contrast with the Bulgarian own policy of refusing to acknowledge ethnic minorities, let alone mention them in the Constitution. This especially applies to the Macedonian minority, which is not being allowed to politically organize or even set up cultural institutions.