Skopje, 15 August 2025 (MIA) - The Constitutional Court is completely independent in its work and should work in line with its principles and the Constitution and adopt a decision it thinks is appropriate in accordance with the highest standards of our legal system, said Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade Timcho Mucunski on Friday regarding the initiative at the Constitutional Court disputing the Protocol from the second meeting of the joint historical commission with Bulgaria.

Asked what a potential annulment of the Protocol would mean for the country’s relations with Bulgaria and the EU, Mucunski said the Court's decision, whatever it is, won't affect the realization of the country’s strategic goal nor impact the content of the Negotiating Framework in any way.

“Regarding our relations with the EU, I don’t think the decision of the Constitutional Court, whatever it is, will have an impact in terms of the work we have been doing recently. The Government is proving it is committed to the European integration process both through our foreign policy work and our work at home,” Mucunski said.

The Foreign Minister noted that the country is implementing thorough reforms on an economic level but also in terms of good governance and the fight against corruption.

“From that point of view, I don’t think the decision itself will impact the realization of our strategic goal, nor will it in any way impact the content of the country’s EU Negotiating Framework, since the Protocol is not a formal and legal part of the Framework,” Mucunski said.

Regarding whether the Protocol with Bulgaria could be annulled and whether the Good Neighborliness Treaty with Bulgaria could also be put into question, Mucunski said he would refrain from commenting, as there is already a procedure before the Constitutional Court, and if he were to express his opinion, “someone might try to interpret it as influence, even if publicly, on the work of the Constitutional Court.”

“When it comes to our bilateral relations with Bulgaria, I don’t think the procedure itself would have any kind of impact on our bilateral relations which, to be realistic, are not experiencing their best days at the moment. However, what I will say is that as Foreign Minister, just as I have done until now, I will continue to call for dialogue and I will keep encouraging discussions about the many projects that have the potential to unite us,” Mucunski said.

The Foreign Minister said the two countries have made some progress in recent years on certain issues, such as Corridor VIII, which, he said, “holds strategic, security, economic and political significance for us”.

“We should continue discussing such topics, to overcome the misunderstandings we have, but also to expect that our neighbor will behave in a European manner, since it is an EU member state. That on all these significant issues in the bilateral relations they will behave in a European manner, and not anti-European, since, unfortunately, the rhetoric in recent months, the behavior in the European institutions that we were able to see in recent months, doesn’t befit an EU member state. But we are working, and we want to work on improving these relations,” Mucunski said.

The Foreign Minister said the two countries should look to the future, stressing that the Government “will always call on reason, dialogue and positive energy” in the bilateral relations.

MIA file photo