"Politically, Bulgaria has fallen into complete isolation in the EU due to the dispute with Northern Macedonia," he told Nova News. Ljubomir Kucukov, former Bulgarian Deputy Foreign Minister, who now works at the NGO Institute for International Relations.

Kucukov believes that Bulgaria has lost all its advantage as an EU member, shifting the pressure from the candidate to itself.

According to him, whatever agreement there is between Bulgaria and Northern Macedonia, it must receive support from parliament and society.

"It can be turned out that with the current accumulation of negativity, finding an agreement will take less political time than securing domestic support in Sofia and Skopje," Kucukov said, adding that trust is a key condition for negotiations.

According to him, it is interesting that the most serious opponents of the agreement are two parties of the same name in both countries - VMRO.

- The dispute with Northern Macedonia has become a rivalry in patriotism in Bulgaria. The main result of the Bulgarian-Macedonian negotiations is that there is agreement to reach an agreement, the climate of bilateral relations is changing and there is already a readiness for dialogue on the disputed issues. The only way to do that is through intergovernmental negotiations, says the former senior Bulgarian diplomat.

Source: MIA