Sofia, 17 July 2022 (MIA) - In the bilateral relations, Bulgaria does not recognize the official language of North Macedonia, Bulgarian Foreign Minister Teodora Genchovska said at a news conference held Sunday in Sofia after the signing of the bilateral protocol between Bulgaria and North Macedonia. "Bulgaria won't deviate from the position on the official language of the Republic of North Macedonia. We fully respect the National Assembly decision, according to which Bulgaria doesn't recognize this language. As regards the other 26 member countries, they have their own positions and we cannot oblige them to accept our position. However, the Bulgarian position is guaranteed in the entire negotiating framework," stated Genchovska. What's important, she noted, is that no document from now on in North Macedonia's EU accession process cannot be seen as Bulgarian recognition of the existence of a so called Macedonian language. "It is clearly described in the unilateral declarations due to be presented by Bulgaria on Monday during the Committee of Permanent Representatives," stated the Minister adding this declaration will be presented also in the next steps at European level and will be welcomed by the Council of the EU. FM Genchovska said after a date is set for the first intergovernmental conference by the Czech EU presidency, North Macedonia will hold a political intergovernmental conference before the authorities open a procedure to change the Constitution in order to include local Bulgarians. According to her, it will be followed by a second intergovernmental conference that will in fact launch the negotiating process, but it will depend on the authorities in North Macedonia. "It could take three months, which was the case when the name of the Republic of North Macedonia was changed, it could also take two years," noted Genchovska. The Bulgarian top diplomat said that Albania can kick off its negotiations with the EU immediately after the first intergovernmental conference.