Bulgaria to Maintain Block on North Macedonia’s Path to EU: Minister

Foreign Minister Teodora Genchovska told media on Tuesday evening that "Bulgaria's position remains unchanged" and that Sofia will continue to block the start of North Macedonia's EU accession talks until its demands are met.

Her comments came in response to Bulgaria media citing German Foreign Affairs Minister Annalena Baerbock that Genchovska had promised the veto will be lifted.

Genchovska said discussions have taken place but without a strict timeline on when the lifting of Bulgaria's veto might happen.

"Regarding the start of negotiations for EU membership for the Republic of North Macedonia, it is crucial for Bulgaria to achieve irreversible results in maintaining good neighbourly relations and obtaining clear guarantees within the EU negotiation process for further implementation of the friendship agreement," she said.

She was referring to an agreement signed in 2017 that led to the establishment of a commission to try to resolve the two countries' differing views of history, and pledged to protect the rights of the other country's nationals living on their soil.

"We expect constitutional guarantees for the rights of Bulgarians in the Republic of North Macedonia," Genchovska added, reconfirming Sofia's controversial stance on the rights of the Bulgarian minority in Macedonia.

Genchovska's comments also came as the party of which she is a member, There's Such a People, one of the four factions in the Bulgarian ruling coalition, has been increasingly critical of the stance of the main ruling party We Continue the Change and Prime Minister Kiril Petkov over the veto on North Macedonia's EU accension talks.

Petkov is known to be keener to lift the veto and expressed optimism in late March that he and North...