Iotova: Dialogue with North Macedonia, but not under pressure from ultimatums

Bulgarian President Iliana Iotova said that Sofia is ready to hold talks with North Macedonia, but without ultimatums and without compromising the principles of European policy.

She urged North Macedonia’s Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski not to treat the dispute with Bulgaria as a purely bilateral issue.

Iotova’s position was made public following statements by Mickoski and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen during the latter’s visit to Skopje.

Iotova said she was “moderately optimistic” and announced that she would ask Bulgarian Foreign Minister Petkova Chamova to present the diplomatic note sent by North Macedonia’s Foreign Minister Timcho Mucunski. The document requests that a meeting be held in Sofia.

The Bulgarian president said she hoped von der Leyen had been “extremely firm” in her conversation with Mickoski. According to her, the case of Iva Mihajlova must also be resolved before any further developments.

“I still do not know the details of the one-on-one conversation with Ms. von der Leyen. I hope that this time she was extremely firm. For this conversation to be serious, Mr. Mickoski must read European policy on enlargement very carefully. The Republic of North Macedonia must forget that this is a bilateral issue, as he is trying to present it. We have always been open to talks with them, but talks without ultimatums and without concessions from European policy. Bulgaria is part of the European Union, and we cannot allow a country that has embarked on the European path to refuse to accept the values and principles of the European Union, much less to speak in an ultimatum-like tone. Nevertheless, we remain moderately optimistic,” Iotova said.

A day earlier, Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski said that Bulgaria’s refusal to hold the meeting would serve as further confirmation of his government’s arguments. He described such a decision by Sofia as reckless, although he stressed that accepting or rejecting the offer remains the sovereign right of the Bulgarian side.

Mickoski also said that although he was not satisfied with von der Leyen’s message on constitutional changes, the meeting with her had been friendly and positive. He described the proposal to hold a bilateral meeting in Sofia as constructive.