Information has emerged in the media in our southwestern neighbor that the report on the progress of the Republic of North Macedonia towards the European Union is public. The Skopje media are quoting specific excerpts from the report, which means that they not only have access, but also that it is available in the government of Hristijan Mickoski.
This is stated in the official position of VMRO.
This is not only absurd, but also outrageous. This report will be presented to the Committee on Foreign Affairs (AFET) of the European Parliament on February 26. So far, only rapporteurs in the EP, their employees and certain MEPs have had official access to it. How does it happen that a candidate country for EU membership has advance access to this report without it being made public and officially presented?
The rapporteur for the progress of North Macedonia is Thomas Weitz - an Austrian MEP with influence in the EP, who actively lobbied for last year's report on the EP vote to recognize the so-called “Macedonian language and identity”. Thomas Weitz visited Skopje last week and is known for his connections with Hristijan Mickoski and the ruling party in North Macedonia. And according to various sources, there are allegations that he and other MEPs are generously paid by the VMRO-DPMNE government.
We call on the Bulgarian government to ask where the media in North Macedonia got such information from. We call on the official cabinet not to deviate in any way from Bulgaria's position on North Macedonia and to declare its support for the local Bulgarians there much more clearly and openly. We call on the Bulgarian representatives in the European Parliament not to allow false statements in the report and to clearly express the facts that North Macedonia is self-hitchhiking on the road to the EU and not fulfilling the agreements it has concluded.
We are categorical that it is a matter of national dignity for the Bulgarian state to adhere to the framework European position towards North Macedonia and not to allow any concessions related to Bulgarian history, past and memory and the rights of our compatriots.
If North Macedonia wants to become part of the European Union, it must fulfill the agreements it has concluded and not allow itself to try to circumvent them. From VMRO we recall that North Macedonia signed a treaty of good neighborliness and friendship with Bulgaria in 2017 and ratified the French proposal of 2022.