Bulgarian President Rumen Radev has stated that Bulgaria will not accept any ultimatum in the talks between Skopje and Brussels on North Macedonia’s membership in the European Union.

Sofia vetoed the end of 2020 for the start of talks on North Macedonia’s EU membership, arguing that Skopje is not implementing a bilateral treaty signed in 2017.

“It is extremely inappropriate and futile to issue ultimatums to Bulgaria,” Radev told reporters in Sofia, commenting on a statement by North Macedonian Foreign Minister Bujar Osmani.

Osmani said that until June, ie until the end of the French EU presidency, there is a possibility of developing relations between Bulgaria and North Macedonia.

Radev insisted that the conditions for starting membership talks must be met. The veto also touched on the start of EU talks with Albania, as the two countries follow a common path.

The Bulgarian president also spoke of external pressure, as he called it, on Bulgaria, accusing North Macedonia of “human rights violations” by ethnic Bulgarians, “violations of the Copenhagen criteria and hate speech”.

According to the Copenhagen criteria, member states must meet certain conditions if they want to join the European Union, such as the existence of institutions for the protection of democratic governance and human rights.

/Klara Ruci/