North Macedonia's relations with Bulgaria have deteriorated so much that they seem to have been interrupted, and meetings between the two countries “are rather courteous”, the country's President Gordana Siljanovska said in an interview with Macedonian television, NOVA reported.
The head of state called for the cancellation of the second protocol between Bulgaria and North Macedonia and defined it as the main obstacle on Skopje's path to Brussels. The texts contain those topics that were included in the negotiating framework and in the conclusions of the European Council.
According to Siljanovska, the European Union can establish rules according to which bilateral issues between Bulgaria and North Macedonia will not be an obstacle.
With this statement, the authorities in Skopje are practically giving up on starting a firefight with the EU. During their visits to the Macedonian capital, all EU leaders have repeatedly reiterated that the only way for North Macedonia to start negotiations is through the implementation of the negotiating framework.
Silianovska also said that the protocol is a source of potential future blockages on Skopje's path to the EU. She added that constitutional changes in themselves do not constitute a guarantee that new obstacles will not appear on the path to the EU.
She stressed that the country remains committed to the reform agenda and assessed that it is ready to follow the pace of the countries that are progressing fastest towards EU membership. Regarding relations with Bulgaria, she said that after recent contacts with Bulgarian President Rumen Radev, she sees an opportunity to strengthen dialogue and seek joint solutions.