Skopje, 27 April 2026 (MIA) - Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade Timcho Mucunski told Parliament’s Committee on Foreign Policy and Foreign Trade on Monday he fully backs Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski’s statement that the country cannot be prepared to implement constitutional changes without clear guarantees and predictability on its European path.

“Why? Because we need to look at the practice toward our country. It is a practice of 30 years of concessions, most of them are concessions of a national character, made with promises of predictability and after just a few months, we find ourselves once again in exactly the same situation,” Mucunski said.

The Minister noted he would also openly talk about the approach of Bulgaria’s Government, saying the issue is not only about constitutional amendments. “We are seeing,” he added, “a regressive approach toward the Action Plan on minorities, a document that is being drafted and is in its final stage. Alongside national experts, international experts engaged by the Council of Europe are also working on it,” the Foreign Minister said.

“Let’s look at the practice of neighboring Bulgaria in blocking our initiative for membership in the ‘Three Seas Initiative’, a platform that is not related to the EU, but Bulgaria once again is deciding to use the right to veto in that international initiative as well. We should build trust, we should act in good faith, but at the same time we cannot act naively because someone is telling us to do this and then the road will be clear,” Mucunski said. 

The Foreign Minister said there should be no dilemmas over the country’s geostrategic orientation but underscored it should be clear that it isn’t ready to negotiate issues related to history, language, and identity.

“Our position is built on two fundamental pillars. First, the need for institutional guarantees confirming that during the accession negotiations of our country, the Macedonian identity, language, history, and culture, as well as their distinctiveness, will not be part of the negotiations and will not represent a condition for progress on our path to full-fledged membership. The second aspect, is our expectation that neighboring Bulgaria will respect its obligations under international public law, in line with the Euroepan Convention on Human Rights, which is tied to the registration of organizations of Macedonians living in Bulgaria,” Mucunski underlined.

Speaking about the election results in Bulgaria, the Foreign Minister said they are a reflection of the democratic will of the citizens, and it is irrelevant if officials on this side of the border like it or not.

“The citizens have decided which government will lead Bulgaria and we have a duty to foster respect and trust with that government, but we expect this to be a two-way street. Our goal is to begin dialogue immediately when the new government in Bulgaria is formed. A significant part of that dialogue will focus on overcoming this challenge, this unjust dispute. But we also have other ongoing issues in bilateral relations. We mentioned Corridor VIII, but there are also other significant elements that we need to advance in the interest of the business communities, tourism, everyday life,” Mucunski said.

MIA file photo