Official Skopje hopes that Bulgaria can lift its veto and pave the way for EU integration. The special envoy of North Macedonia to Bulgaria for resolving the dispute between the two countries, Vlado Buckovski, expressed optimism that Bulgaria will lift the veto on North Macedonia in 2022.

Buckovski says progress has been made in building trust between the two countries, and hopes for results after the meeting of new Macedonian Prime Minister Dimitar Kovacevski with his Bulgarian counterpart Kiril Petkov, scheduled for mid-January.

In 2021 Bulgaria did not have a regular government for 8 months. Three parliamentary and one presidential elections were held in the country. This seriously affected our efforts to find a mutually acceptable solution and to lift the blockade on our path to the EU. In 2022, I expect a mutually acceptable solution with Bulgaria. A solution that will be based on mutual respect and will be maintained. The Bulgarian blockade will be lifted. The start of negotiations with the EU will finally be a reality,” Buckovski said.

Not only Skopje, but also Official Tirana is eyeing Sofia, where the Bulgarian veto on North Macedonia has blocked Albania on its way to the EU, as Brussels wants the two countries to move together towards integration. Although Bulgaria was under international pressure to unblock the start of EU membership talks with Albania and North Macedonia, this did not happen. A day before the change of years, the Prime Minister of Albania, Edi Rama, said that if Bulgaria blocks North Macedonia again for EU integration, then Albania will demand partition.

Bulgaria, an EU member state, vetoed North Macedonia in November 2020 over language and identity disputes. Sofia accepts the Macedonian language and identity, but only after 1945, before this period, they, according to her, had “Bulgarian roots”.

/Klara Ruci/