Before the visit of the Bulgarian Prime Minister Kiril Petkov to Macedonia next Tuesday, President Rumen Radev held yesterday a meeting of the National Security Council on the Republic of Macedonia and Bulgaria's role in EU enlargement, and the GERB opposition criticized Petkov and Radev open the possibility of violating the national consensus reached in the Bulgarian parliament in 2019, writes the Skopje newspaper Sloboden Pechat, noting that the opposition in our southwestern neighbor criticizes future Prime Minister Dimitar Kovachevski for not having legitimacy to negotiate with Petkov because he does not is directly elected by the people. According to analysts, Petkov's proposals to expand co-operation between Sofia and Skopje in several areas are in the spirit of good neighborliness, and the decision should not be burdened with deadlines.
The publication notes that former Foreign Minister Ekaterina Zaharieva criticized Radev for not convening the Security Council for two years, which she said was against the law. MP Zaharieva said that so far Radev should have been summoned on at least four topics - the Kovid crisis, inflation, energy prices and the conflicts between Russia, Ukraine and the situation in Kazakhstan, which are "much more important topics than Macedonia." She added that she did not see a threat to Bulgaria's national security from the R.M.
Her colleague from GERB MP Daniel Mitov expressed doubt that the Bulgarian national consensus on Macedonia is in question.
"I do not understand what is the purpose of convening the Council, because in Bulgaria there is a national consensus on the topic of Macedonia and no one has expressed an intention to destroy this consensus and propose a new one. With the convening of the Security Council, this consensus could be broken. I don't know if that's the goal. "President Radev has apparently taken on some responsibilities during the two caretaker governments and is now trying to shift the responsibility of political parties for failing to meet these commitments," Mitov said.
He assessed that the visit of Prime Minister Petkov to Skopje is a gesture that gives reason to think about the intention to change the Bulgarian position.
The main opposition in our southwestern neighbor VMRO-DPMNE also did not fail to criticize the upcoming Petkov-Kovachevski meeting.
"The Macedonian people do not need false optimistic statements, they need diplomatic readiness, capacity and determination in the negotiations, something that SDSM, Kovachevski and Special Representative Buckovski do not have," the IMRO-DPMNE said.
Former Ambassador to Bulgaria Marian Gjorchev says Petkov's proposal for expanded co-operation is in the spirit of the Friendship Treaty.
"I expect a deepening of the dialogue between the two countries and its better quality than the previous one. Petkov was educated in the United States and had the privilege of being brought up in the democratic spirit that gives hope that relations can begin to develop and deepen. But we must not set time frames, we cannot be under this pressure of constant expectations. Talks need to go on and we need to focus on our pillars. We have a Stabilization and Association Agreement with the EU and 13 positive recommendations from the EC to start membership negotiations. To continue to develop the economy, infrastructure, political dialogue, civil society, to invest in the rule of law. And to leave history to historians, because it is a tragedy for politicians to deal with history. We have to be honest with each other, to say openly, we can do this, we can't do that. With the help of the United States, a mutually acceptable solution can be found, not a compromise, but a common vision for Europe and the future. It is important for these commissions that Petkov is talking about to start working, to appoint an ambassador in Sofia and to gradually build trust. And if we achieve the goals at home and do our homework, the EU will look for us, "explains Gjorchev.
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