Skopje and Sofia set "red lines" for the start of negotiations, now Paris is on the move

Photo: EPA / EFE

Northern Macedonia will accept the proposal of the French presidency for the start of negotiations with the EU if the negotiation framework does not de-problematize the issue of the Macedonian language and does not include historical issues and if the beginning of the negotiation process is not tied to the inclusion of Bulgarians in the Constitution. Deputy Prime Minister for European Affairs Bojana Maricic and Foreign Minister Bujar Osmani.

Meanwhile, the National Assembly of Bulgaria yesterday with 170 votes "for", 37 "against" and 21 "abstained" approved the document known to the public as a "French proposal" to unblock the European path of Northern Macedonia. The decision of the Bulgarian Parliament, proposed by the leader of Democratic Bulgaria (DB), Hristo Ivanov, gives the green light to the Government in resignation of Prime Minister Kiril Petkov "to approve the negotiating framework and conclusions proposed by the French Presidency of the EU Council to resolve of the complex relations between Bulgaria and Northern Macedonia, if several conditions are met ”.

- Effective implementation of the Good Neighbor Agreement, guarantee of the rights of the Bulgarians in the Republic of Northern Macedonia through their insertion in the Constitution, nothing in the accession process of RSM to be interpreted as recognition of the Macedonian language by Bulgaria and EU guarantees that all this will to be met, are the conditions set by Sofia with the decision adopted yesterday.

In reaction to the decision, the resigned Bulgarian Prime Minister Kiril Petkov announced on his Twitter account that the Bulgarian National Assembly "adopted a historic decision that gives the green light to the French proposal for the accession of Northern Macedonia to the European Union." "Integration in the Western Balkans is of strategic interest to the EU," Petkov said.

He told reporters in Brussels, where he was attending an EU summit, that European leaders had concluded that Bulgaria had taken this step, adding that it was backed by the French government and the Union, which he said "understand that Bulgarian demands are becoming European." ”.

He added that it is time for the Government of the Republic of Northern Macedonia to lead its nation. "At the moment, it is up to them to say whether they want to be part of the EU and whether they are ready to take steps to make it a reality," Petkov concluded.

The Bulgarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, on the other hand, stressed that the Parliament's decision expresses support for the Western Balkan countries in the EU.

"We have not added any new requests to Skopje and we are ready to approve the first intergovernmental conference as soon as our friends from Northern Macedonia sign the protocol, as discussed by the foreign ministers," the Bulgarian Foreign Ministry said on Twitter.

The decision of the Bulgarian Parliament was welcomed by the President and Prime Minister of Albania, Ilir Meta and Edi Rama.

Meta, who had his last day in the presidency yesterday, reacted on Facebook by saying that "lifting the veto on Northern Macedonia is a long-awaited news from Bulgaria", which paves the way for Albania to start EU membership talks.

Albanian Prime Minister Rama, meanwhile, announced on Twitter that he had a telephone conversation with Bulgarian opposition leader Boyko Borisov and thanked him for his role "in lifting the veto". - A true friend, a true leader. His party GERB and others saved the face of Bulgaria and the EU! "Now the EU must act quickly," Rama wrote in a Twitter post.

French President Emmanuel Macron, whose country currently holds the rotating EU presidency, welcomed the Bulgarian parliament's decision, announcing that the process was continuing.

"I want to welcome the vote in the Bulgarian Parliament, which paves the way for the lifting of the veto and the opening of accession talks with Northern Macedonia, and thus the progress of the Albanian dossier," Macron told a news conference in Brussels.

He added that after this vote, exchanges of views with partners in Bulgaria and Northern Macedonia will continue in the coming days.

- The machine is ready to approve what will be decided, this is a very good signal, I want to congratulate the Bulgarian Prime Minister and the opposition forces that have united around this vote, but also to thank the "Northern Macedonians" for their progress said the French president, who added that "there is still work to be done".

Even before the vote in the Bulgarian Parliament, the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in response to a question from MIA correspondent, stated that official Paris remains mobilized to find a solution for the start of negotiations between Northern Macedonia and Albania with the EU.

- We are taking many steps under our chairmanship of the Council of the European Union in order to support the finding of a solution to the dispute between the two countries and to concretize the European perspective of Northern Macedonia. We remain mobilized to reach a balanced and mutually acceptable solution and we are determined, in case of an agreement, to organize intergovernmental conferences between the European Union and Northern Macedonia, as well as with Albania, said Kay d'Orsay in response to a MIA question.

The US State Department, meanwhile, said the credibility of the EU enlargement perspective is vital to the stability and prosperity of the Western Balkans, adding that the United States continues to support the start of accession talks between Northern Macedonia and Albania with the EU as soon as possible. .

Deputy Prime Minister Maricic and Minister Osmani yesterday, immediately after the adoption of the decision of the Bulgarian Parliament, said that they could not comment on it because they had not seen it.

- First, we need to see what text has been voted by the Republic of Bulgaria and how it will affect the French presidency to submit it as a final proposal, because the version that was shared with the member states is a working version, which is not completed. So we have yet to see what exactly and what is the Bulgarian position, said Osmani.

The Foreign Minister explained that what came out to the public as a "French proposal" was in fact a working version of the negotiating framework and other conclusions submitted to member states with "brackets and questions", and not a final version of the proposal. emphasizing that in each final draft version of the negotiating framework there are no questions and wording in parentheses. He clarified that in brackets as unresolved, ie uncoordinated are certain issues on which Northern Macedonia and Bulgaria failed to build a harmonized position.

- Points that are fateful for us are: language, historical issues should not be the main criteria for progress in negotiations and the dynamics of constitutional change. You know that there is a difference between the Bulgarian position and our position which says that we can not have constitutional changes if we do not start negotiations, Osmani said, adding that now we need to see what approach the French presidency will have based on our positions in The Prime Minister Dimitar Kovachevski and the Resolution adopted by the Bulgarian Parliament yesterday were presented in Brussels on Thursday.

The "French proposal", which is in fact a draft working, not a final version, is based on the negotiating framework proposed by the European Commission during the Portuguese presidency of the EU, on which Bulgaria had three remarks: regarding the short name of our country , the Macedonian language and the inclusion of the Bulgarians in the Constitution of the state.

Of these three remarks, the first is overcome by our unilateral statement to the UN on the short name, which was accepted by Bulgaria.

Regarding the Macedonian language, Sofia first insisted in the Negotiation Framework that there be no sentence in which the language would be mentioned after the example of Montenegro, then the term "official language of Northern Macedonia", then "Macedonian language according to the Constitution of the Republic of Northern Macedonia". ”Or in a place where the Macedonian language is stated with a footnote to be clarified that it is in accordance with our Constitution or to state the Bulgarian position on this opinion. However, all these proposals of Bulgaria were rejected by us with the position that "we do not negotiate the language" and they are not included in the proposed text, but in the negotiating framework the Macedonian language is clearly stated without any additions or explanations. Thus, the Macedonian language becomes one of the 25 languages ​​of the EU and as such is part of the negotiating framework.

There is room in the Minutes of the Council of the EU to adopt the negotiating framework to include statements by Bulgaria and our country regarding the language, but they will not be part of the text of the framework.

As for the third request for the inclusion of Bulgarians in the country's Constitution, Sofia insists on making constitutional changes first, and only then convening a second intergovernmental conference that would officially start the country's negotiations with the EU. Our position on this request is that the process of inserting the Bulgarians in the Preamble of the Constitution, as one of the communities in the country, take place until the end of the negotiation process, and the negotiations officially begin with the first intergovernmental conference, explaining that the decision to start negotiations was adopted on March 20, 2020, and now only their beginning needs to be formalized.

Otherwise, in all previous proposals of the European Commission and during the German and Portuguese and Slovenian presidencies, the Prespa Agreement and the Good Neighbor Agreement were listed in the basic document, in the negotiating framework, in paragraph 5.

The essential intervention of the French Presidency in the proposed Negotiating Framework, made at the request of Bulgaria, is the insertion of a special section in Chapter 23 concerning the "rights of minority and ethnic communities", as well as the inclusion of the Protocol of the Second Macedonian-Bulgarian Intergovernmental Conference. , which has not yet been held as a separate chapter.

The section on respect for the "rights of minority and ethnic communities" actually derives from the Copenhagen criteria for minority rights, except that in the French proposal they are placed in a separate paragraph and they do not specifically emphasize the rights of Bulgarians, but speak of respect for the rights of all minorities, not just ethnic communities.

As for the protocol, Osmani informed that in the negotiations between the Ministries of Foreign Affairs of Northern Macedonia and Bulgaria a draft version of that protocol was determined, but that for now it is not fully harmonized, because there are open issues that must be discussed, and when done, the document will be signed by the two countries' foreign ministers and then approved by both governments. The protocol should contain provisions for the implementation of the Friendship and Good Neighbor Agreement with Bulgaria, which includes decisions agreed between the members of the Joint Committee on Historical and Educational Affairs. As Osmani explained, this means determining the dynamics of implementation of already agreed implementation decisions by the Commission, without imposing deadlines on its members to make and harmonize any decisions.

It is unacceptable for our country for such a harmonized implementation protocol to become part of the negotiating framework, because that would include historical issues in the negotiation process.

According to Deputy Prime Minister Maricic, the Treaty of Friendship and Good Neighborliness has its own instruments of functioning, and part of it is the historical commission. - It is a bilateral issue between us and Bulgaria. That protocol can not be a condition in the negotiations, nor can it be mentioned in the negotiation framework, Maricic stressed.

The Foreign Minister stressed that his personal position is that the proposed negotiating framework would become acceptable if the inconsistent protocol is excluded from it and the plan for the dynamics of changing the Constitution is changed, ie the start of negotiations is not conditioned by the inclusion of Bulgarians in the Preamble.

Osmani and Maricic explained that the position presented by Prime Minister Dimitar Kovacevski on Thursday had previously been conveyed to the French presidency, but was not disclosed because it was assessed together with our partners and friends that no public position should be given so as not to influence of the processes in Bulgaria before the vote of confidence in the Government of Prime Minister Kiril Petkov.

- After we saw that there was a shared working version, we formally communicated our views to the French presidency. We deliberately did not make it public so as not to influence the process in the Republic of Bulgaria. We considered that it is our interest, but unfortunately not everyone endured in respect of our state strategy that we thought preserves our positions, said Osmani.

He pointed out that he is aware that in this way space is left to build a narrative aimed at overthrowing the state strategy and attempts at hybrid attacks, which can be treated according to the Criminal Code, but that it is the responsibility of other institutions in the country.

"People from the country called ministers and political parties and ministers with false information to try to disrupt this strategy," Osmani added.

In that context, yesterday SDSM demanded responsibility from the leader of VMRO-DPMNE, Hristijan Mickoski for spreading lies and untruths about the process with Bulgaria.

- Mickoski lied about alleged assimilation and Bulgarianization and undermined the state positions in relation to Bulgaria. For such behavior, VMRO-DPMNE should demand responsibility from Mickoski, and then stop the destruction. VMRO-DPMNE must change and instead of working for other people's interests, start working for the interests of the citizens and the state, said SDSM.

Deputy Prime Minister Maricic, yesterday in a guest appearance on Telma TV, said that there were people, former politicians, who are interested in this process, who either misinformed them or deliberately raised tensions among some political parties or the media.

"It is much more important for the country to support the negotiations of the Government, which has a framework for views and positions, than to send pathetic text messages to foreign ministers across Europe urging them to reject the proposal," he said. questions.

He stressed that our goal remains EU membership, but of course at the same time protection of our interests, in terms of language and identity, and starting a negotiation process that will be sustainable and a package that we will be able to implement and implement it. a way that will lead us to membership, not to new blockades.

"We can not give up our path to the EU because it was established during our independence, but we also can not give up some positions that are important for every country," said Maricic, adding that at the moment when the country we will receive any official proposal, it will be submitted for consideration to both the Government and the coalition partners and in some form the Assembly will be consulted, through the Committee on Foreign Affairs.

He pointed out that it remains to be seen in the coming days whether the French presidency will have its final proposal.

- So far we have had a working version in which several questions remained undefined, and that is the question of the protocol, because in a way we symbolically see the protocol as a paradigm of historical interpretations. "I think that if there is political will to understand our sensitivities, a solution can be found in the next few days," Maricic concluded.

Or, as Minister Osmani stated in a Facebook post, "two words stand between the success and failure of the European Union in the region."

- The word "protocol" in the framework, as a paradigm of historical issues and the word "opening" in paragraph six of the Council conclusions. Both words are not in the French proposal as final solutions, but are placed (some of them in parentheses), as issues on which no agreement can be reached due to the position of the Republic of Bulgaria, said the Foreign Minister in the announcement, adding that if Bulgaria remains to insist on these two issues that it "will block the European process in the long run and at the same time paralyze the instruments of the long-term friendship agreement".

Osmani last night in an interview with Alsat TV reminded that the French presidency lasts until June 30 and in the coming days, if they decide on a new proposal, in accordance with these views of both parties that were publicly announced, we are open to assess it.

- If we receive a proposal, the institutions will be consulted and we will make a decision. We will absolutely not be guided by hybrid attacks, by disappointed politicians who think they can bring a career back to the wave of public mood. We are elected to lead and will lead if we are convinced that this is a policy that leads forward for the citizens and the state, said Osmani.

Bulgarian MEP, member of the Foreign Affairs Committee and rapporteur of the European Parliament for Northern Macedonia, Ilhan Kucuk assessed that Bulgaria is becoming a problematic country that hinders the development processes of the EU.

- Our place should not be among the obstacles, but in the development space - to set an agenda, to impose different views that will make the EU much more efficient and to be in the Bulgarian national interest. One of the topics to be addressed by Bulgaria was related to EU enlargement and how Albania and Northern Macedonia should be part of it, Kucuk said in an interview with BNR.

Referring to the French proposal, Kucuk said it was the best solution for Sofia so far, adding that if Bulgaria adopts a common position on the proposal for Northern Macedonia, political pressure will no longer be on it, but other mechanisms will be sought to accept one. or another proposal.

"The proposal has quite good guarantees for solving the difficult problems of the past and for the open old emotional issues, as well as for the rights of the Bulgarians - they will fulfill their guarantees in a European way," Kucuk concluded.

Former EU Ambassador Erwan Fouere believes that negotiations on bilateral issues, such as those related to language, identity and history, must be conducted in a parallel process, where there would be a balanced approach and taking into account the criteria for EU membership, otherwise join the negotiating framework, the accession process will be completely polluted and there are no guarantees that there will be no additional veto from Bulgaria in the future.

Fouere in yesterday's guest appearance on Sitel TV pointed out that the Bulgarian demands "are an insult to the Macedonian citizens, they attack the heart and soul of the Macedonian nation and will never be part of a compromise solution."

- I hope that the French diplomatic efforts will understand the sensitivity related to issues that exist in the Western Balkans and will make an effort that will largely take into account the concerns of the Macedonian side, rather than be fully committed to the interests of Bulgaria, Fouere said, adding that if anyone wants to find a compromise solution, it is crucial to take into account issues of interest to both countries.

He also reacted yesterday to the tweet of the European Commissioner for Enlargement and Neighborhood Policy Oliver Varheyi that "the EU takes all Bulgarian concerns very seriously" and that they will become part of the country's negotiation process with the Union.

- There is no logic at all… How can you support "all Bulgarian concerns" and make them part of the negotiation process, when some of those concerns are against everything that the EU stands for, while others are contrary to the rulings of the European Court of Justice. human rights. The commissioner should be ashamed of himself, Fouere said, commenting on Varchey's announcement, adding that he should resign or be forced to resign.

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