Sofia strongly desires Macedonia’s EU integration, but the country must first implement the obligations they accepted, Radev told the Bulgarian National Television on Friday.

“The issue of the rights of the Bulgarians in Macedonia is not bilateral, nor a Balkan dispute, as they try to present it, but concerns the EU basics.

He also said that Bulgaria is not, nor it will, impose new demands on Macedonia, apart from the ones integrated in the Macedonia’s negotiating framework, that the country adopted last year.

The Bulgarian president gave this statement following series of statements by EU representatives in the recent period, which emphasize that the bilateral issues between Macedonia and Bulgaria should not be obligatory.