Public statements by the Belgian Foreign Minister during his visit to the Republic of North Macedonia caused comments and dissatisfaction in our country. He stated that: “Bilateral issues should not hinder the process of enlargement of the European Union.“ After the signing of the so-called. European proposal, also known as the French proposal, the issues of the integration of the RSM into the EU are a matter between Skopje and the European institutions based on compliance with criteria and conditions.
This is more about ignorance than political provocation, commented in "The Day Begins" Prof. Spas Tashev from the Institute for Population and Human Studies at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences and Chairman of the Association of Descendants of Refugees and Migrants from the Territory of the RSM and Friends.
Prof. Dr. Spas Tashev, Institute for Population and Human Studies at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences: "I explain it more as ignorance, but ignorance is due to several factors. First - it is not obligatory for Belgian or other representatives of Western European diplomacy to know the Macedonian issue in detail. Second - the passive Bulgarian policy in recent years. We constantly appeal that we must have a proactive policy, but unfortunately we do not see such examples, which creates gaps in the general European consensus. If we rewind the tape, only in the last year the president of Croatia has made similar statements, similar messages have also come from Montenegro. In previous years, Skopje's diplomacy made a breakthrough in Germany, where the Bundestag began to recognize Macedonian identity – something that is not subject to international recognition."
He explained that because of this, the Association of Descendants of Refugees and Migrants from the Territory of the Republic of Macedonia made a protest declaration in which we would clarify the essence of the problem.
"The European Union has as its priority the enlargement to the Western Balkans. It is logical. When Bulgaria was the EU president, we also launched the enlargement as a main priority. The leaders of Western European diplomacy do not go into details.
There were debates in the European Parliament and a European consensus was reached. However, now there is a new composition of the EP and a large part of the MEPs no longer know these details, which shows the need for the topic to be constantly presented. This is about human rights, not a bilateral dispute. This problem has been occurring since the end of 1944. During the communist rule, Bulgaria - Sofia stubbornly remained silent on the topic of the violation of human rights of people with Bulgarian identity. Only in the last few years has the issue begun to be raised more clearly and systematically."