"Our position is absolutely for no renegotiation of the Negotiating Framework for North Macedonia for EU membership, we are absolutely against this. To postpone human rights - the inclusion of Bulgarians in the Macedonian constitution - is absolutely unacceptable. We will not accept these proposals."
This is what Ivan Kondov, the current deputy foreign minister of Bulgaria who will become a caretaker minister in the new cabinet, told BGNES.
Earlier, his Macedonian counterpart Timčo Mucunski demanded from Bulgaria to renegotiate the conditions for Skopje's EU accession.
"We don't think these proposals are the way things can happen. I have said this when I participated in the EU Foreign Affairs Council - the framework cannot be renegotiated and the agreements must be implemented", Kondov emphasized.
Asked by BGNES whether he sees an external interference by a foreign state in North Macedonia, which wants to block the relations between Sofia and Skopje on the one hand, and the European process on the other, Kondov replied:
"In principle, it is clear that Russia has an interest in this blockade. I cannot say that there is evidence of direct interference because this was the election platform of Mickoski and VMRO-DPMNE. The way the policy is being conducted (in Skopje) - the favouritism of ties with Serbia and blocking ties with Bulgaria, blocking the development of Corridor 8 with the idea of transferring funds to Corridor 10, which leads to Serbia - it is obvious that there is some third-party influence."
On the calls of the ruling Macedonian politicians - whether they are just rhetoric or aggression against Bulgaria, the deputy minister said:
"It's hard for me to say what exactly Mr (Hristijan) Mitkoski is aiming at, but in the end it seems like it's more of an internal political issue which is postponing the decision. In this way, Mickoski goes out of his way to say, 'I will negotiate, but with a future regular government." | BGNES
