Skopje, 16 January 2022 (MIA) — In an interview with MIA ahead of his official visit to North Macedonia on Jan. 18 as the first foreign statesman to meet with the new government, Bulgarian Prime Minister Kiril Petkov said he wasn’t bringing any annexes to the Friendship Treaty but arriving with a constructive tone and readiness for a new beginning. The Bulgarian Prime Minister said the countries should start cooperating in a more dynamic, more practical way, unencumbered by previous declarative commitments, and focus on specific issues affecting the everyday life of both countries’ citizens. “No, no. I come with a constructive tone and readiness to start working together,” Petkov said in response to a question regarding speculations he would propose an annex to the Bulgarian-Macedonian Treaty on Friendship, Good Neighborliness and Cooperation the countries signed in 2017. “I don’t have a document ready or anything, because all those documents are pointless if they aren’t backed by real motivation to do the job. “I suggest we leave documents aside as a secondary step, and start working first so there is something we can write about in the next document. “Otherwise, the danger is, we write a document, and then what? We need to set an agenda, establish working groups, start a dialogue, have a sense of mutual trust that there are good intentions on both sides, and set goals we want to achieve as soon as possible.” The Bulgarian PM said he had spoken to Prime Minister-designate Dimitar Kovachevski on the phone, noting their conversation was very constructive. He expressed confidence that the two of them, being people from the economic and business spheres, had similar energy to move things forward. He said he hoped that during his visit they would establish working groups to boost cooperation in economy, culture, infrastructure, European integration, and history, stressing that good neighborly relations should be developed by interest groups, and not politicians. The purpose of his visit, he added, was to set an agenda for the meetings of those working groups, which would meet once a month to make progress on all issues. “We need to constantly communicate, to move forward,” he said. “My hope for the coming months — and this is what I am trying to achieve during this visit — is to establish those five working groups: for economy, culture, infrastructure, European integration, and history.” “I don’t want only politicians visiting and talking,” he continued. “I want to see all our companies that have interest in the Republic of North Macedonia, all companies from your country that have interest in Bulgaria.” “We don’t need politicians at these meetings, we need people who want to work, to do business together,” Petkov said, noting he couldn’t understand how there was still no direct flight between Skopje and Sofia. The Bulgarian PM also spoke about the previously set six-month deadline for resolving the dispute blocking North Macedonia's start of EU membership negotiations and commented on Bulgarian President Rumen Radev’s position that results, and not deadlines, were necessary for Bulgaria to greenlight the start of talks. “The deadline depends only on the readiness of each of us to reach out and complete the work together,” he said. He stressed that sensitive issues would be solved through a friendly, constructive dialogue. “This is why the most important thing is to have trust,” he said. “I hope we will build that trust by the things we do together.” In the interview with MIA, Petkov also commented on destructive forces in both North Macedonia and Bulgaria working against good neighborliness and the fight against corruption in his country and the Balkans in general. “We need to get rid of anyone who profits at the expense of our nations. Because there is a small group of people who make money through corruption to the detriment of everyone else. They are part of the destructive elements raising the question of whether good neighborliness between the two countries is good or not," Petkov said. Bulgaria’s Prime Minister also spoke about his country’s expectations of joining the eurozone, the pressures on Bulgaria to resolve the dispute, and the latest developments in the Balkans. The interview with Petkov in its entirety, along with video material, will be published by MIA tomorrow. mr/