Bulgarian President Rumen Radev believes that the start of Macedonia’s negotiations with the EU should be postponed until a bilateral solution is found, because, as he says, it is increasingly likely that Bulgaria’s proposals will not be part of the negotiating framework, despite the efforts of the Bulgarian Government.

I expect the Bulgarian Government to fight, in Article 35 of the negotiating framework for Macedonia to include the National Framework Position adopted unanimously by the National Parliament a year ago. However, it seems that this is increasingly unlikely and therefore there is one outcome – postponement of negotiations until a clear legally binding bilateral agreement between Bulgaria and Macedonia to clear all bilateral issues, Radev wrote on Facebook.

Moreover, he said the accession of the Macedonia to the EU is of great importance for the region and Bulgaria has always supported it. But, Bulgaria has to have, as he said, clear guarantees that the unity of the Bulgarian nation and our cultural and historical heritage will never be put into question by external factors.

As a responsible member of the European Union, we cannot and should not allow to bring new unresolved issues into the bloc. We cannot give European legitimacy to hatred towards Bulgaria. Three years after the signing of the Agreement on Friendship, Neighborhood and Cooperation with Macedonia, unfortunately we continue to witness offensive and inadmissible words about Bulgaria, Radev said.