The US to Bulgaria and North Macedonia: Quickly Solve your Problems and Reduce Tension

The United States is calling on Bulgaria and North Macedonia to "de-escalate" their rhetoric and quickly resolve "bilateral disputes".

This is stated in a position of the US State Department, expressed to the Macedonian section of "Voice of America".

"North Macedonia's future is in the European Union. The US continues to support the overall Euro-Atlantic integration of the country," the short statement continued.

This approach is not unusual: the USA has repeatedly used the local section of the Voice of America - a state-funded international radio station with editorial offices in dozens of countries around the world - as a first step to express positions in the Bulgarian-Macedonian dispute.

Is the ambassador coming back?

Washington commented on the topic a week and a half after a new escalation between Sofia and Skopje. Ambassador Angel Angelov was summoned to Bulgaria for an indefinite period after the beating of the secretary of the "Tsar Boris III" cultural club, Hristiyan Pendikov, for which ethnic hatred was cited as the motive.

However, according to the MIA agency, which quotes the Macedonian Foreign Ministry, Ambassador Angelov is about to return to Skopje.

Tensions rose ahead of another celebration of the anniversary of the birth of the revolutionary Gotse Delchev, before which the visit of the MEP Angel Djambazki and the leader of "Vazrazhdane" Kostadin Kostadinov to Skopje for another anniversary - that of the revolutionary Mara Buneva - angered Skopje because of their comments. Days later there was also the beating over Pendikov. Subsequently, President Stevo Pendarovski speculated with a ban on the the entry of Bulgarian MEPs, politicians and public figures.<...