In a separate statement submitted to the EU Council for the start of negotiations with Macedonia, neighboring Bulgaria announced that it would not back down from its demands, the Skopje-based Nezavisen newspaper reported.
In a document presented by the Bulgarian delegation to the EU, official Sofia explained that the wording of the EU Council conclusions of 14 December on "holding the first intergovernmental conference as soon as possible after the adoption of the negotiating framework" does not represent any automaticity between the framework and date for the first intergovernmental conference between Macedonia and the EU.
Sofia has announced that it will make the adoption of the negotiating framework conditional on the inclusion of an additional condition for the opening of the Foundations cluster (the first cluster to open in the negotiations) in the form of a roadmap for implementing the Neighborhood Agreement.
In addition, Bulgaria wants to negotiate with the disputed historical figures, facilitate Bulgarian investments in Southeast Macedonia, Corridor 8 and end the request for recognition of the "Macedonian minority" in Bulgaria, which it considers unfounded. In the document, Sofia speaks of a "hate speech" against Bulgarian citizens in Macedonia.
When and if negotiations with the EU begin, Bulgaria will insist on these numerous conditions and on the closure of chapters and clusters.
The name dispute also remains in Bulgaria's terms: it requires that Macedonia be called exclusively by the long name "Republic of Macedonia" in order to "differentiate" from the region of Macedonia.
"Exclusive use of the name Republic of Macedonia to distinguish the political entity" Republic of Macedonia "from the geographical region" Macedonia "or a verbal note from the Republic of Macedonia to members of the United Nations so that any use of" Macedonia " refers to the political entity Republic of Macedonia and the use of the short name Macedonia has no other meaning, which refers to the geographical region of Macedonia, parts that belong to the sovereign territory of Bulgaria, according to the Bulgarian delegation to EU member states.
In support of this argument, Bulgaria gives an example with the Republic of Moldova and the region of Moldova and asks how in other cases (name dispute in NATO, Kosovo) to use an asterisk in official documents.
Although the wording "misinterpretation of history" has been removed from recent EU conclusions, Bulgaria returns to the issue in the document and writes that "Bulgaria reaffirms its understanding in the Council, as stated in the conclusions on enlargement and the Stabilization and Association Process. June 26, 2018 that the Neighborhood Agreement "must put an effective end to all claims based on misinterpretation of history."
Finally, Bulgaria said in a statement that it "joins the consensus of member states to adopt a framework for negotiations on Albania and to hold the first intergovernmental conference between Albania and the EU, based on the merits of that candidate country".
In the last part of Bulgaria's statement, the country acknowledged that despite the "campaign of hatred against Bulgaria in the Republic of Macedonia", the north of Macedonia "remains open to dialogue at all times".
According to the document, Bulgaria's interest is to find a sustainable solution to the open issues with the Republic of Macedonia, and not to slow down the process of joining the EU.
Sofia regrets that Macedonia has not committed itself "significantly" to negotiations with Bulgaria.
"After years of non-implementation by the Republic of Macedonia of its commitments, trust cannot be easily restored. The current atmosphere in the Republic of Macedonia does not encourage a sustainable solution. Bulgaria remains committed to continuing the consultations. Bulgaria does not dispute the sovereign right of the citizens of the Republic of Macedonia to self-identify as they wish. However, Bulgaria cannot tolerate this process of identity building to take place through opposition and hatred towards Bulgaria and through politically motivated cultural appropriation, "the Bulgarian delegation wrote.
In Sofia, "quick solutions" are considered impossible because relations between the two countries are in a "delicate phase".
"The non-implementation of a legally binding agreement by the Republic of Macedonia does not allow Bulgaria to believe that non-binding declarations and statements will help resolve the situation, unless there are appropriate requirements included in the negotiating framework," the document said.
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