Regarding the so-called non-paper that was published in the media today, President Stevo Pendarovski’s Office informed that no negotiations have been held with Bulgaria for months and therefore no document has been submitted from Sofia to Skopje.

The position of President Pendarovski regarding the identity and language of the Macedonian people is clear and unchanged, so far it has not been up for negotiations, nor will it be in the future, said the President Pendarovski’s Office.

The Government of Macedonia considers the proposal presented during the Portuguese EU Presidency as the official one, a proposal that ensures solutions acceptable for all sides. This was stated in Government’s response to MIA’s question whether a new non-paper is in circulation for resolving the dispute between the two countries, which was published Monday by Klan TV, without citing a specific source, about which Skopje and Sofia reportedly familiar with, and also the more important member states of the Union.

The Republic of Macedonia remains committed to the process, in order to overcome the differences with the Republic of Bulgaria, which would remove the obstacles to the start of accession negotiations with the EU. It is in the interest of the citizens of both countries, and thus of the European agenda. We hope that political conditions will be created in Bulgaria as soon as possible to open the possibility for an intensive dialogue between Skopje and Sofia to resolve the issues that caused the blocking of the EU enlargement process, adds the Government.