Bulgaria will not lift its blockade of Macedonia's EU membership negotiating framework in December. The permanent representative of Bulgaria in the Union, Rumen Alexandrov, yesterday, at the meeting of the General Affairs Council (GAK) in Brussels, announced that Northern Macedonia still does not meet the criteria for holding the first intergovernmental conference.

According to MIA diplomatic sources in Sofia, before the GAK meeting, the Bulgarian representative planned to express Bulgaria's sharp stance towards RS Macedonia, but this did not happen due to the tragedy on the Struma highway. Alexandrov first expressed deep condolences for the incident in which 45 Macedonian citizens were killed and stressed that RS Macedonia still does not meet the criteria to start membership negotiations.

A breakthrough is not expected in the first half of 2022 either

He added that Bulgaria has in recent months proposed a number of options for overcoming open issues such as guarantees for the rights of people with Bulgarian self-awareness, and that Northern Macedonia needs to make concrete commitments, some of which need to be met in the short term and others to be among the requirements of the future negotiating framework. Alexandrov said that before that could happen, no progress could be expected.

With this, as well as with the announcement of the Bulgarian Foreign Ministry last week, it is certain that the meeting on December 14 will not unblock the process, and a breakthrough in enlargement is not expected in the first half of next year, during the French presidency. For now, it is uncertain whether the planned meeting of the working groups of the Macedonian and Bulgarian Foreign Ministries, at which the Roadmap five plus one was to be discussed, will be held at all.

After the EU-Western Balkans Summit in Brdo, Slovenia, Bulgarian President Rumen Radev announced that the meeting would take place by the end of October, and there was even talk of an opportunity for the two foreign ministers to sign a document unblocking the process. The Prime Minister Zoran Zaev announced that the five demands of Sofia are acceptable and it is possible to reach a solution. From the Macedonian side, the condition is that the veto be lifted, and then the agreement be implemented. But the announced meeting was postponed to the second half of November, first due to the local elections in Macedonia, and then due to the parliamentary and presidential elections in Bulgaria. There are no announcements from the Macedonian Foreign Ministry whether this meeting will take place at all, given the announced veto from Sofia or whether the next Bulgarian government will be waiting to be constituted.

Mediapool: Skopje should stop hoping only for pressure from the United States and the EU

The Bulgarian media "Mediapool.bg" writes that Bulgaria will not lift the veto, despite pressure from the United States and the EU, until Skopje shows readiness to accept Bulgarian demands.

"If Skopje gets a perspective to move towards the EU, it will help pro-European circles to take anti-populist solutions." But if there are no positive signals from the Bulgarian side, the intensification of anti-Bulgarian rhetoric in Northern Macedonia will probably continue. That is why the responsibility of Bulgaria is huge - both for the government and the opposition. "If there is one issue for which efforts must be made to find a rational solution, oriented towards a long-term perspective, it is the unraveling of the knot with Northern Macedonia," the media analyzed.

The text states that Skopje has high hopes in the new Bulgarian government to move the country on the European path, but will have to realize that it will not be able to "change Bulgaria's position without changing its behavior". According to the analysis, the "Macedonian question" will be among the central topics in the negotiations for the formation of a new coalition government in Bulgaria, as at least two parties in the potential coalition, the Bulgarian Socialist Party and There Such a People (ETN), are firmly opposed to any compromise. The change continues and Democratic Bulgaria is calling for a new approach.

"From the comments on the Change, it can be estimated that the formation will try to 'dress' the Macedonian issue in its economic dimensions, shifting the focus from the painful topic of history. It is unlikely that this will happen to the BSP and ITN, which would find it difficult to come to terms with compromises that, even if insignificant, would encourage voters in both parties, as well as the former ruling GERB and nationalists, to blame the new authorities. "for 'betrayal,'" Mediapool reported.

The text reminds one of Bulgaria's main demands is for Macedonia to include Bulgarians in its Constitution on an equal footing with other nations, something the Macedonian authorities say they are ready to do, but only shortly before or after the country's entry into the EU. The Bulgarian side also adheres to the "red lines" in the Declaration of the Bulgarian Parliament, the changes of which will require a new debate in the Parliament, which will certainly ignite the populist wave, ie "any decision that will be in favor of RS Macedonia "No matter how it is packaged, it will have a high political price if it is not accompanied by clear action by Skopje."

On the other hand, Mediapool concludes, Skopje will have to realize that it will have to take serious steps regarding the Bulgarian demands and "stop relying only on pressure from the United States and the European Commission on Sofia."

Zaev - Donfried: The start of negotiations is a geostrategic interest of the United States

US Assistant Secretary of State Karen Donfried expressed her condolences to Prime Minister Zoran Zaev over the deaths in a bus crash in Bulgaria. According to the government's press service, Zaev and Donfried discussed Macedonia's European integration process, expressing full US support for the opening of negotiations with the EU in December this year.

The interlocutors agreed that the opening of negotiations with Northern Macedonia and Albania is in the foreign policy and geostrategic interest of the United States. The telephone conversation confirmed the strategic partnership between Northern Macedonia and the United States, which are now partners in NATO, the government's press service said.