ISSN: 2560-1601 Vol. 40, No. 4 (BG) May 2021 Bulgaria external relations briefing: Symbolic Attempt for Rapprochement and Renewal of the Dialogue Between Bulgaria and the Republic of Northern Macedonia Evgeniy Kandilarov 1052 Budapest Petőfi Sándor utca 11. +36 1 5858 690 Kiadó: Kína-KKE Intézet Nonprofit Kft. [email protected] Szerkesztésért felelős személy: CHen Xin Kiadásért felelős személy: Huang Ping china-cee.eu 2017/01 Symbolic Attempt for Rapprochement and Renewal of the Dialogue Between Bulgaria and the Republic of Northern Macedonia Summary From May 26 to 28, Bulgarian President Rumen Radev visited the Vatican and the Italian Republic. The President led the Bulgarian delegation, which was traditionally received by the head of the Roman Catholic Church on the occasion of the Day of the Holy Brothers Cyril and Methodius, the Bulgarian alphabet, education and culture and Slavic literature - May 24. During the visit, the head of Bulgarian state visited the holy places for Bulgarians. In order to pay tribute to the holy brothers Cyril and Methodius in Rome, this year a delegation from the Republic of Northern Macedonia, led by President Stevo PendarovsKi, was traveling with the Bulgarian delegation. This act of joint celebrating the memory of the founders of Slavic literature and culture creates a precondition for raproachment between Bulgaria and the Republic of Northern Macedonia, which is extremely important in view of the negotiations between the Republic of Northern Macedonia and the EU for accession of the BalKan state in the Union. Less than a month ago, the President of Bulgaria Rumen Radev appointed a caretaker government with a mandate of two months, which should organize and hold early parliamentary elections. Shortly afterwards, in a briefing for the media, the new Minister of Foreign Affairs Svetlan Stoev announced that one of the main priorities of the Ministry in the next two months is to restore trust and intensify the dialogue with the Republic of Northern Macedonia. Minister Stoev reminded that Bulgaria has an official position - a framework on which it moves in its relations with the Republic of Northern Macedonia, and a declaration of the National Assembly, supported by all political forces represented in the 44th Parliament. Nevertheless Bulgaria is open for dialogue. "What is needed in our relations is, on the one hand, consistency and, on the other hand, a constructive attitude in the bilateral dialogue. The goal is to achieve sustainable and irreversible results in restoring trust between the two countries, "said Svetlan Stoev. At the same time the minister announced that Bulgaria is working to return to the topic of European integration of the Republic of Northern Macedonia within the normal European formats between EU member states to obtain guarantees for Bulgaria that bilateral agreements will be implemented. 1 It must be reminded that 2020 was marked by the dispute between Sofia and Skopje over the reluctance of Republic of Northern Macedonia to comply with the Treaty of Friendship and Good Neighborliness signed in 2017. On November 17, 2020 Bulgaria presented its position for starting of the EU negotiations with the Republic of Macedonia - namely support for Albania for the EU, but not Macedonia. The reason was that according to the Bulgarian position Skopje is blocking the activities of the Joint Bulgarian-Macedonian Historical Commission, which is due to address controversial issues in the two countries' common history. On May 20, 2021 in an attempt to warm the relations between the two countries, a European delegation arrived in Bulgaria. The high-ranking European delegation, which visited Sofia, insisted that Bulgaria change its national position regarding the agreement with the Republic of Northern Macedonia. Portuguese Foreign Minister Augusto Santos Silva and EU Neighborhood and Enlargement Commissioner Oliver Varhelyi had a series of meetings with Bulgarian officials in an attempt to break through Bulgaria's position on Skopje's EU integration. The answer of the Bulgarian Foreign minister Stoev was that "For us, maintaining good neighborly relations and obtaining the necessary guarantees for the implementation of the neighborhood agreement from 2017 remains of a key importance." According to the Bulgarian government, clearing history textbooks of misinterpretations is a key condition for Macedonia on its path to Europe. However, the outcome of more than 10 meetings of the so called bilateral Historical Affairs Committee is controversial. Nevertheless, Bulgaria expressed readiness for dialogue but at the same time after a meeting with EU Enlargement Commissioner Oliver Varheilyi Bulgarian Foreign Minister Svetlan Stoev announced that Bulgaria will not make more concessions to Northern Macedonia on its path to the European Union. A few days later, on May 24, there was a meeting between Bulgarian President Rumen Radev, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa. Radev said that European integration required sustainable and irreversible results in building good neighborly relations in the Balkans. The meeting was initiated by the President of the European Commission and the Portuguese Prime Minister before the extraordinary meeting of the European Council in Brussels. Bulgarian President reminded also that the process of EU enlargement has been a foreign policy priority for over 10 years for our country and Bulgaria is most interested in the rapid progress of our closest country in the Balkans. However, progress in the process of European integration should be based on respect for human rights and full compliance with the Copenhagen criteria for membership of the Union. 2 The caretaker government of Bulgaria is ready to conduct an active dialogue with the Republic of Northern Macedonia in this direction, as well as to discuss the possibilities for accelerating the process of European integration, said Rumen Radev. The Head of State also pointed out that any possible decision to start EU membership negotiations by the Republic of Northern Macedonia will be carefully analyzed and compared with the Declaration of the Bulgarian Parliament and the Framework Position of Bulgaria on EU enlargement and the Stabilization and Association Process, from October 2019. An opportunity to improve relations between Bulgaria and the Republic of Northern Macedonia was given by the initiative for the two countries to jointly celebrate the Day of Slavic Literature and Culture in Rome. The two delegations traveled together to the Italian Republic, and on May 27, Presidents Rumen Radev and Stevo Pendarovski laid flowers at the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore, where Pope Adrian II blessed the alphabet and books written by the holy brothers Cyril and Methodius in the ninth century. The joint visit of delegations from Bulgaria and the Republic of North Macedonia to Rome and paying homage to Saints Cyril and Methodius is an excellent occasion to renew the dialogue between the two countries at the highest level, declared Rumen Radev before journalists in Skopje following a conversation with his counterpart Stevo Pendarovski. The two held a brief meeting before the delegation led by Mr. Pendarovski joined the Bulgarian one. This is the first time the two delegations have travelled together to Rome to pay homage to the work of Saints Cyril and Methodius. President Rumen Radev stated that the joint journey provides an occasion for Bulgaria and the Republic of North Macedonia to declare a common will for the development of bilateral relations, based on cooperation, friendship and good neighbourliness. We must restore trust and talk as friends on the most difficult issues still hindering us and I hope soon they could bring us together, said President Stevo Pendarovski before media in the joint statement with the President Rumen Radev. The President of the Republic of North Macedonia pointed out that from an operational point of view, discussions between the two countries are led by the two governments and that will remain the same. “We are here to ease the situation and speak differently about the problem standing between us over the past year,” Mr. Pendarovski added. President Pendarovski also expressed a hope that this would bring the two countries closer together soon. Meanwhile Bulgarian Prime Minister Stefan Yanev had a telephone conversation with his Macedonian counterpart Zoran Zaev. Zaev congratulated the Bulgarian Prime Minister on his appointment and wished him fruitful and successful work. The two prime ministers discussed topics of common bilateral interest, emphasizing the need to work for a more 3 effective political dialogue. Zaev told the Macedonian media that the arguments of the European Union are on the side of Skopje, and the presence of a caretaker government in Bulgaria suggests that a decision will be made in June to start negotiations. He expressed the opinion that President Rumen Radev is an European leader and could take a positive step, which will give a chance for the friendship between the two countries to develop. Zaev was adamant that he had never harmed the state and national interests of Republic of Northern Macedonia. However, the red lines remained – the Macedonian language and identity. The joint celebration between Bulgaria and the Republic of Northern Macedonia of the memory of the Saints Cyril and Methodius and their activities related to the creation and dissemination of Slavic literature and culture is an important and symbolic gesture of closeness, goodwill and friendship. However, whether a breakthrough in bilateral political relations between the two countries will be achieved in the near future in connection with Northern Macedonia's EU accession talks is too early to say. Many experts in Bulgaria are too skeptical and do not believe that relations between Bulgaria and the Republic of Northern Macedonia are entering a new stage after the meeting between Presidents Rumen Radev and Stevo Pendarovski, as there have been many such meetings and optimistic expectations after each such meeting. Still, the point of this gesture is to change the tone between the two countries.