Sofia, 8 November 2022 (MIA) - My visit to Sofia aims at enhancing the relations between North Macedonia and Bulgaria and strengthening institutional cooperation, Foreign Minister Bujar Osmani said in an interview with the Bulgarian National Television (BNT). Osmani said he regrets the fact that those trying to ruin the countries' relations are getting more attention than what has been achieved by the institutions, MIA's Sofia correspondent reports. In the interview, he said that the two countries this year for the first time will record EUR one billion in trade, which comes as a result of the hard work of the companies on both sides of the borders. "But, the public cannot see it because all the attention is on provocation." "In both countries there are people who create tensions and provocations and we have to oppose these provocations," Osmani stated. According to the chief diplomat, cooperation should be established not only among politicians but also among the representatives of all segments of the countries' societies to serve as a kind of safety net that will resist even when the political relations are deteriorated. "It requires comprehensible cooperation established not only between us, the ministers, but also between the universities, students, doctors... to create a complex of network that will maintain the good relations between our two countries so as not to depend on the politicians, who are dependent on the dynamic inside. It's evident that someone doesn't have the interest for good relation between Bulgaria and North Macedonia. There are third countries that don't want the Western Balkans to be stable and two NATO allies to have good relations," stated Osmani. It's good news, he added, that those who had tried to build a political career in Bulgaria acting against North Macedonia failed to get the support from the Bulgarian citizens in the parliamentary elections. "When it comes to identity and language, it's important that the Macedonian citizens are not provoked, because it's a sensitive issue and it limits the space for focusing on the issues that are really part of the 2017 agreement, such as the work of the history commission, and all other sectors, including the path toward EU membership," said the Minister. The energy agreement signed by North Macedonia and Bulgaria, Osmani said, apart from being important also has a symbolic importance for being the first agreement allowing the country to secure gas apart from Russian gas. It is the start of a major project to diversify energy resources, he noted. "This agreement has also to do with security and with geopolitics." As regards the constitutional changes, Minister Osmani said a procedure should start in the coming months. "The political parties in Parliament have already launched the process of consultations," he said expressing hopes that they will be endorsed with a consensus.