Skopje, 9 February 2023 (MIA) — North Macedonia is not negotiating with Bulgaria for joining the European Union but with the EU itself, Prime Minister Dimitar Kovachevski said in response to a reporter asking him to comment on Bulgarian President Rumen Radev’s statement at the Brussels EU Summit earlier on Thursday that North Macedonia’s EU accession talks “are in a situation of veto” and will not start until the country includes Bulgarians in the minorities listed in the Constitution.

“I would not comment on Bulgaria, because they are in elections and everyone there makes statements just to score more votes,” PM Kovachevski said.

“After their elections are over in the first week of April, we'll be able to establish communication with their newly elected government and have our institutions continue communicating on bilateral projects, because we are not negotiating our EU entry with Bulgaria. We are negotiating our EU entry with the EU, in Brussels. There will be no veto because we have already started the negotiations,” Kovachevski said.

The prime minister added he had met with all EU ambassadors earlier on Thursday to discuss in detail North Macedonia’s achievements in 2022 and expectations for 2023. Regarding the accession talks, he said the country had not only started the screening process with the EU but was already at an advanced phase.

He highlighted that the screening process was going well and was to provide signposts for the country to meet the necessary standards for full EU membership. One of them, he said, was regarding the rights of minorities.

“Compared to any other country in Europe, the rights of minority communities here have been raised to the highest possible level,” Kovachevski said. 

“We have set up institutions for the rights of minority communities. We have laws on fulfilling the rights of minority communities regarding their equal participation in public administration, the use of languages, etc. And this applies to everyone. We also have a ministry that deals with those issues,” he said. 

“Any politician making such a request is not a problem for us, given that the rights of all individuals or groups in this country who are not part of the majority community are at a much higher level than in many European countries, including EU members,” he added.

Ahead of the EU Council summit in Brussels earlier on Thursday, Radev, asked whether Bulgaria was planning a new veto following the latest tensions between Sofia and Skopje, said "we are in a situation of veto.”

He also said that a solution that Bulgaria had inserted with great effort into the negotiation framework made it possible for negotiations to begin only after Bulgarians were included in North Macedonia’s Constitution. 

“They have not yet been listed and negotiations have not started,” the Bulgarian president said.

He said although North Macedonia was not on the Council's agenda, he would still try to raise the issue of "the rising aggression and escalating anti-Bulgarian campaign in the Republic of North Macedonia" and request the EU monitor and guarantee that rights of Bulgarians in North Macedonia would be respected. mr/