Mickoski: Rights of Macedonians in Bulgaria not amounting to interference in domestic affairs of eastern neighbor
- I would call upon the international law and comment on the rights of the Macedonian community in Bulgaria, based on the 14 rulings of the European Court of Human Rights.
- Post By Ivan Kolekevski
- 13:50, 13 March, 2025

Skopje, 13 March 2025 (MIA) - I would call upon the international law and comment on the rights of the Macedonian community in Bulgaria, based on the 14 rulings of the European Court of Human Rights. We, as citizens, should all support the Macedonian community in Bulgaria, because they cannot realize their rights in an EU member-state, in the 21st century. This has nothing to do with domestic affairs but is based solely on the human rights' resolution ratified by our eastern neighbor and NATO ally, said Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski on Thursday.
PM Mickoski was asked by reporters about yesterday's statement from the Bulgarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which read that his statements on the ECHR judgments represent "an attempt to circumvent the undertaken commitments (with the July 2022 European consensus) and turn the public's attention away from the lack of reforms, while promoting manipulative and false claims that could amount to real interference in Bulgaria's domestic affairs".
Mickoski regrets seeing Bulgaria's new Foreign Minister forget that goodneighborly relations lie in the foundations of the European perspective and that the two countries are allies in the world's biggest community - NATO.
"We are staying here but our fellow citizens are also staying in Bulgaria. It is our goal to build goodneighborly relations, but when it comes to the truth, we will have our say. If amendments to the Constitution do not amount to direct interference in the domestic affairs of a sovereign and independent country, then I don't know what does," said Mickoski.
On the country's European future, the PM said full-fledged EU membership is its second strategic objective.
"We are not like some former politicians, who did things contrary to the citizens' expectations and interests while failing to protect national interests. Macedonian citizens expect a real path to the EU, something we have been waiting for more than two decades, a process based on the Copenhagen criteria, a merit-based system, no more and no less than what other member-states got. We do not want bilateralization and settlement of bilateral disputes. We cannot allow for the European future to depend on bilateral issues that have nothing to do with the 21st century but rather the Middle Ages," underlined Mickoski.
He did not comment on yesterday's statement of EU Ambassador Michalis Rokas on intense diplomatic activity towards resolving the issue with Bulgaria, only noting that unblocking of the process "could happen tomorrow or the day after, and this does not depend on us but other factors".
Photo: MIA