European integration requires sustainable and irreversible results in building good-neighbourly relations, declared the Head of State Mr. Rumen Radev during a meeting held today with the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen and António Costa, Prime Minister of Portugal, the rotational President of the Council of the European Union. The meeting was held at the initiative of the President of the European Commission and the Prime Minister of Portugal ahead of the Special Meeting of the European Council in Brussels.

 

The focal point of the meeting were the opportunities for achieving progress in adopting a negotiation framework and commencing accession negotiations for the Republic of North Macedonia to join the European Union.

 

Mr. Rumen Radev pointed out that the EU enlargement process has been a foreign affairs priority of our country for more than 10 years and that Bulgaria is most interested in the swift progress for the country closest to us in the Balkans. Advancing the process of European integration must however be based on respecting human rights and fulfilling the Copenhagen Criteria for becoming an EU Member State. 

 

We need positive examples in the bilateral relations between Bulgaria and the Republic of North Macedonia, as well as an open and direct bilateral dialogue for solving the problems, the President emphasised. Mr. Rumen Radev noted the upcoming joint celebration of the work of the Holy brothers Cyril and Methodius by the delegations of Bulgaria and the Republic of North Macedonia in Rome as a good sign and called for political will on behalf of our south-western neighbour for achieving concrete results on the precarious issues.

 

The Caretaker Government of Bulgaria is ready to lead an active dialogue with the Republic of North Macedonia in this regard, as well as to discuss opportunities for accelerating the process of European integration, Mr. Rumen Radev assured. The Head of State further added that any possible solution for commencing EU accession negotiations for the Republic of North Macedonia will be carefully analysed and matched with the Bulgarian Parliament’s Declaration and the Framework Position of our country on the enlargement of the European Union and the Stabilisation and Association Process of October 2019.