The MPs voted a blank check for the Bulgarian-Macedonian protocol and so the fruitless disputes with the Macedonian side will continue, the head of State believes

I have long insisted that the Macedonian Bulgarians be included in the constitution of the Republic of North Macedonia (RNM) and it is a fact that this was accepted by the French Presidency of the Council of the EU. Paradoxically, however, it was easier to convince the President of France and European leaders to this end than the Bulgarian prime minister, whose cabinet did not even accept responsibility for its actions and did not leave enough time for the institutions and the public to get to know the case. This is what President Rumen Radev said in response to a journalist's question about the so-called French proposal for the EU accession process of the RNM, adopted yesterday by the National Assembly.

The head of State pointed out that the proposal contained most of the main Bulgarian requirements, but both it in its entirety and the Bulgarian-Macedonian protocol could have been more successful. This, according to the President, could have happened "if Bulgarian politicians had paid more attention to the whole process and diplomats from the Foreign Ministry had not only relied on the presidential institution and had not wasted time and energy in trying to bring the divergent policies of the prime minister into some acceptable framework."

Radev pointed out that the bilateral protocol, which should provide guarantees for cultural and historical heritage, for textbooks, for the eradication of hate speech, does not provide at all the necessary mechanisms, deadlines and criteria for protection. Yesterday the MPs voted a blank cheque for something that many of them failed to get to know, the head of State added, saying that this would leave the next Bulgarian governments in today's situation - fruitless disputes with the Macedonian side.

Responding to the call to declassify the transcript of the January meeting of the Consultative Council for National Security, dedicated to the European integration of the RNM, the President pointed out that the meetings were closed by law and he insisted that each participant should have the freedom to defend his positions. The head of State said that during the 5-hour meeting at the beginning of the year he had strongly insisted that the Macedonian Bulgarians should be included in the country's constitution and that this should be a mandatory condition for the start of the negotiations for the accession of the RNM. However, Prime Minister Petkov, his ministers and all the participating parties, with the exception of There Is Such a People, rejected this proposal and accepted it only when it came through President Emmanuel Macron, Rumen Radev added.  

Asked to comment on Prime Minister Petkov's words to the Guardian newspaper, the President pointed out that with this interview the Prime Minister had personally admitted that Bulgaria was exporting arms to Ukraine. In his desire to hit me, he shot Deputy Prime Minister Korneliya Ninova, who heads the commission responsible for issuing permits for these weapons, Rumen Radev added.