In several recent statements, Bulgarian Prime Minister Kiril Petkov became even more active in promoting the end of the veto against Macedonia’s EU accession talks. Petkov was moderate in his positions to Macedonia from the start, unlike hard-line President Rumen Radev, but is now very openly conciliatory.

I have decided that the future of Macedonia and Albania should be in the EU. That is good for the region, Petkov said.

He is now on a visit to the United States, and after meeting US officials, who are apparently pushing hard for the lifting of the veto, Petkov said that Bulgaria will lift its veto as soon as Macedonia meets the conditions. Petkov did not mention the declaration of the Bulgarian Parliament, which put very heavy demands before Macedoania, asking that we thoroughly change our national identity, which has made negotiations very difficult. Both Petkov and his Foreign Minister Teodora Gencovska, who is much more of a hard-liner, now talk mostly about the 2017 Zaev – Borisov treaty, which lays claim to Macedonian history and identity, but far less intrusively than the Declaration.