Skopje, 2 July 2024 (MIA) - Bulgarian President Rumen Radev commented on Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski’s statement from yesterday, which suggested that the Good Neighbourly Treaty with Bulgaria might be renegotiated. Radev said that the state leadership of the Republic of North Macedonian is clearly unprepared and lacking knowledge of international law. He emphasized that once an international treaty is signed, it must be fulfilled by all future governments and should not be subject to revisions. Radev gave the statement after a briefing with Bulgarian media in Athens, following his meeting with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, BTA reported.

Yesterday, Mickoski stated that the Prespa Agreement is a reality and part of the country’s constitutional and legal order. He also pointed out that the God Neighbourly Treaty has already been renegotiated with the inclusion of the so-called "French proposal," from which the constitutional amendments arose. Therefore, he sees no reason why another proposal, which would address the demands of the Macedonian people, cannot be added.

According to Radev, “the authorities in Skopje lack knowledge of constitutional law.”

“The model of the Bulgarian Constitution and that of the Republic of North Macedonia are very different - theirs protects collective rights, while the model of our Constitution respects individual rights. They also clearly lack understanding of European legislation, which mandates that when Council conclusions are adopted by consensus, they are not subject to negotiation but must be implemented,” Radev said.

He stated that “the state leadership of the Republic of North Macedonia has much to learn,” and added that “they are prepared to assist and have always supported the Republic of North Macedonia on its European path.”

“We cannot implement a policy of double standards, if we demand changes to the Constitution in Macedonia for several hundred citizens, who declare themselves as being part of the Bulgarian community, then we need to see what’s happening with the citizens in our eastern neighbour who say they are part of the Macedonian community,” Mickoski stated emphasizing that the European Court of Human Rights had delivered 14 verdicts in favour of the Macedonian community in Bulgaria for their rights being restricted, whereas there were none for the Bulgarian community in Macedonia.

Also, Mickoski called statements by official Sofia, especially those by President Rumen Radev, as befitting the middle ages.

“A man, who calls himself a European politician in the 21st century all the while annulling the human tights of a community, has been saying that we are against the Bulgarian community. No one is against the Bulgarian community, we respect the several hundred people that declare themselves as being part of the Bulgarian community, who are our fellow countrymen. But we also ask the president of Bulgaria to respect the minority and human rights of the Macedonian community,” said Mickoski on Monday.