“disappointed”, Varhely: Pressing Balkan integration is in EU interest

At the Forum for Relations between the European Union and the Western Balkans, which was held in Sofia on Tuesday, Commissioner Varhely said that “I am extremely disappointed that we are still talking about starting negotiations with Northern Macedonia and Albania. I thought we solved this case two years ago, but this is now back on the table”.

Varhely stressed that the EU has neither the time nor interest to postpone the first intergovernmental conferences with Skopje and Sofia.

All member states must understand the transforming power of the membership process. And that's the message I'm bringing back to Sofia. I've been here three weeks ago and I'll come as long as it takes to resolve this issue in June of this year, because the war in Ukraine has shown us that we don't have time to lose or interest that this process doesn't delay”, he said.

According to him, the <x0->war in Ukraine and lessons of the past have shown that the process of full integration of the Western Balkans into the EU should accelerate”.

But despite EU Commission for Enlargement and Good Neighborhood Policy request, Oliver Varhely, for resolving disputes between Skopje and Sofia, Bulgarian Foreign Affairs Minister Teodora Gencovska reiterated that the Bulgarian veto for Skopje would not be lifted without the demand for the inclusion of the Bulgarian minority in the Constitution of Northern Macedonia.

“is the condition of the Bulgarian National Assembly's declaration and has been confirmed by the Consultative Council for National Security. At this stage it is important that this condition be met before the start of negotiations”, Gencovska declared at the Forum for Relations between the European Union and the Balkans in Sofia.

Sofia's objections, Macedonian Prime Minister Dimitar Kovachevski, have praised the Bulgarian parties as political struggle because of the instability of the Bulgarian government.

“Political fighting in a neighbouring country, the European Union member state and populist-nationalist rhetoric cannot be an obstacle to the membership of a country that has four consecutive reports to launch the first Intergovernmental Conference”, Prime Minister Kovacevski has declared in Skopje.

Bulgaria, as an EU member state, in November 2020 has used veto to block northern Macedonia for launching European membership talks. Sofia disputes Macedonian language and identity by calling on Skopje to accept the Bulgarian <x0-seat” in their identity. Bulgaria also requires respect for the rights of Bulgarians living in northern Macedonia, demanding their involvement in this country's constitution as a statehoodn people. / REL/