Sofia, 13 June 2022 (MIA) - The Republic of North Macedonia’s EU integration should be a sustainable and irreversible process, one built on real results in fulfilling membership criteria, Bulgarian President Rumen Radev said in a phone call with the President of the European Council Charles Michel on Monday, Radev’s press office said. Bulgarian President Radev underscored that fulfillment of the Copenhagen criteria, constitutional guarantees for respecting the rights of Macedonian Bulgarians and preserving Bulgarian cultural and historical heritage in North Macedonia, are necessary steps on its path to a united Europe, MIA’s Sofia corresponded reported. He commended “the better understanding of the Bulgarian position within the European Union, outlining the need of clear mechanisms and tangible criteria that would consider the actual progress of North Macedonia in the process of European integration and uphold the EU democratic principles and standards,” his office said. Radev also held a phone call with Austrian Federal Minister for European and International Affairs Alexander Schallenberg and discussed the European perspective of the Republic of North Macedonia.