Balgarianovinite.com MEP Ivaylo Valchev (European Conservatives and Reformists Group/There Is Such a People) told the Bulgarian News Agency (BTA) in the lobby of the European Parliament in Strasbourg on Wednesday that Skopje is emphasizing issues that serve its domestic political agenda in order to divert public attention from more pressing challenges and focus irrational hostility against its eastern neighbour.
Valchev talked about current issues related to the European Commission’s progress reports on the Western Balkan countries’ path toward EU membership, on which the European Parliament is due to vote on Wednesday, as well as bilateral relations between Sofia and Skopje.
Ahead of the European Parliament’s vote on draft resolutions concerning the 2025 annual progress reports for the Western Balkan countries in the EU accession process, BTA asked Bulgarian MEPs representing all political groups and all Bulgarian parties represented in the European Parliament to comment.
Asked about the key messages in the European Commission’s reports on the Western Balkans, Valchev chose to focus on Kosovo and North Macedonia, for which he serves as the European Conservatives and Reformists Group’s shadow rapporteur.
“The report on Kosovo largely acknowledges the country’s progress and expresses regret that the ongoing political crisis there is currently preventing that progress from fully materializing. The report on the Republic of North Macedonia, on the other hand, is far less optimistic. It is critical across a wide range of areas, including the rule of law, political life, media freedom, relations between the government and the opposition, environmental policy, and others. It is precisely in the section dealing with human rights that the issues most important to us, as Bulgarians, are addressed. In my view, this is exactly why the authorities in Skopje are focusing on topics that are politically useful domestically, to distract public attention from the truly important issues and redirect it toward irrational hostility against their eastern neighbour.”
Valchev encouraged anyone interested in the subject to read the full report on North Macedonia, stressing that anyone who does so “will understand why there is such a strong insistence in Skopje on discussing identity and language, as well as the issues surrounding them, rather than, for example, corruption and the rule of law.”
Asked about Bulgaria’s position and how it balances support for North Macedonia’s European perspective with the protection of Bulgarian national interests, Valchev said that Sofia is defending European Union principles rather than engaging in what he described as “a nationalist solo performance”.
“Defending Bulgaria’s national interest is not an end in itself. What we are doing, and what we explain to all our colleagues, is not some nationalist solo initiative. In the context of the commitments undertaken by the Republic of North Macedonia under the French Proposal and its agreements with the European Union, defending Bulgaria’s national interests is also a defence of common sense and of European logic. We are defending the principles of the European Union, principles that the Republic of North Macedonia must demonstrate it accepts. We are not pursuing, as I have said, nationalist solo actions aimed merely at asserting and defending a Bulgarian position,” Valchev said.
Commenting on the arson attack on Bulgarian diplomatic vehicles in Skopje, Valchev criticized the authorities there for allowing such an incident to occur and argued that media outlets in North Macedonia had also contributed to the environment that made it possible.
“This is not the first attack against the Bulgarian Embassy or Bulgarian property. We are not talking about attacks on cultural clubs located in private buildings. Nor are we talking about vehicles that are rented or privately owned. There is a Vienna Convention, which forms the foundation of modern diplomacy. Under the Vienna Convention, every embassy and its property constitute the territory and property of the state they represent. Such an attack has now been allowed to happen in Skopje for a second time, which means that the authorities either cannot or will not take adequate measures.”
He added: “None of this would have happened if local social and mainstream media had not been promoting increasingly aggressive and increasingly toxic anti-Bulgarian propaganda, echoing and reinforcing the tone set by the government.” MEP Ivaylo Valchev: Skopje Emphasises Domestic Political Issues to Divert Public Attention from More Pressing Challenges 2026 THE NEWS FROM BULGARIA – NEWS AGENCY 2009-2025 2026-06-17 09:47:35 Latest news World news Country news Most important news latest news most important latest of the day Justice Petar Nizamov Feathers Petar Nizamov- Feathers Justice bg iustitia.bg iustitia iusticia usticia investigation Burgas Bulgaria news news of the last hour news of the day news of today Bulgaria news The news from Bulgaria blitz news top news most important most commented latest news Boyko Borisov news weather coronavirus news news weather facebook youtube facebook instagram news today news of the last minutes news today today news news bg news leading news hot news bg news site for news all news news bg news of the last hour latest latest news bg news of today news today news today news of the last hour latest news today news bg news news 24 hours news vesti bg novini news world bird bg bivol bg bivol trud bg novini latest news today novinite bg news hello bulgaria political party coat of arms delyan peevski scandalous Bulgarian National Television Free Europe Television scandal exclusive live tv live right now tv tv online tv program bg live now tv news online tv online live court Burgas court Burgas district court Burgas court Burgas district court Burgas district court Burgas appellate court Burgas prosecutor Burgas prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Prosecutor General Ivan Geshev Prosecutor Geshev Tsatsarov Ministry of Internal Affairs Burgas ODMR Burgas ODPR Burgas police Burgas district police Burgas prosecutor Tsatsarov SGS cases Varna court chairman of the SGS court decisions on civil cases decisions on cases Plovdiv court decision of the court decisions cases Varna court criminal cases district district court decisions work in the court SGS chairman of the SGS judges Sofia court post judges Plovdiv court Plovdiv judges Plovdiv Supreme Court Inspectorate Supreme Court Supreme Judicial Council lawyer lawyer criminal cases lawyer civil cases lawyer marriage cases lawyer administrative criminal law criminal process civil law civil process administrative law constitutional law