“Dialogue between Bulgaria and North Macedonia must continue, and our position is completely clear – Bulgaria has a strategic interest in North Macedonia moving forward on its European path,” North Macedonia’s Foreign Minister Timco Mucunski said in Sofia following a meeting with his Bulgarian counterpart Velislava Petrova.
Mucunski participated Thursday in an International Ministerial Conference on Corridor VIII in Sofia, hosted by Foreign Minister Velislava Petrova. Following the conference, the two held a meeting and made statements to the media.
“The meeting was initiated by North Macedonia and was held at the suggestion of European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. There is a considerable degree of distrust between the two countries regarding our European integration, for us, this is linked to the predictability of the process,” Mucunski noted.
“Today’s meeting was constructive and held in a positive spirit. I have to be completely transparent, we did not resolve any substantive issue. Our positions are still very far apart, and there is no doubt about that. However, we had a positive discussion about the development of dialogue between the two countries in the coming period,” he added.
“This dialogue will certainly continue, and our position is completely clear — Bulgaria has a strategic interest in North Macedonia moving forward on its European path. However, we are countries that have had bilateral issues over the years, and every time one bilateral issue is resolved, another one emerges. This distrust exists, and we also remain firm in our positions on issues concerning language, identity, history and culture, but these issues should not burden our European path,” Minister Mucunski said.
He also noted that an agreement had been reached for the next ministerial-level meeting on Corridor VIII to take place in Skopje, most likely at the beginning of 2027.
“One of the topics we discussed was the action plan concerning the minority, and we agreed that there would be dialogue on this issue in the coming period,” Mucunski also noted.
“We agreed to continue the dialogue with the utmost attention to the interests of society, but it would not be appropriate to share all the details of what we discussed as two countries from the very beginning, because we will build trust if we remain firm in what we share with each other,” Mucunski said.
Mucunski also met today with European Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos, with whom he discussed reforms as well as other strategic interests.
“We also talked about our bilateral relations with Bulgaria and the way we believe the EU can be helpful in this process. My impression is that the EU will do everything possible, and the European Commission in particular has a strong interest in making progress on the issue of starting negotiations for our country,” Mucunski said.
In response to a journalist’s question, he also commented that the issue of returning the remains of Tsar Samuel to Bulgaria had not been discussed during his meeting with Petrova.
Bulgaria Has Strategic Interest in North Macedonia’s EU Progress, Foreign Minister Timco Mucunski Says 2026 THE NEWS FROM BULGARIA – NEWS AGENCY 2009-2025 2026-10-08 15:29:00
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