A statement from North Macedonia’s Prime Minister Dimitar Kovačevski, drawing comparisons between Russia and Ukraine, and Bulgaria and North Macedonia, has further fuelled tensions between the two Balkan neighbours.

Their relationship has been tense for years, becoming more complex when Sofia vetoed Skopje’s accession to EU candidate status, before bowing to EU pressure and mediation and lifting the veto, but making it conditional on constitutional changes in North Macedonia.

At a Council of Europe summit in Reykjavik this week, Kovačevski said: “The speech widely used by Bulgaria towards North Macedonia is very similar to the speech of the Russian Federation about Ukraine”.

This comment was not well received by Bulgaria, with Vice President Iliana Yotova taking to the floor after Kovačevski to raise the issue of protecting the rights of Bulgarians in North Macedonia. She said the rights of Bulgarians “are systematically violated and unrecognised, and Bulgarians are subjected to harassment and restrictions”.

Relations have also been strained further in recent months after Bulgarian clubs and cultural centres, some of which have names considered provocative to Macedonians, were subject to attacks.

Sofia denounces ‘hate crime’ against Bulgarian cultural official in North Macedonia

The Bulgarian President Rumen Radev on Friday (20 Januay) denounced as a hate crime the attack on the secretary of the Bulgarian cultural club “Tsar Boris III” in Ohrid, North Macedonia.

A number of Bulgarian clubs in North Macedonia have recently been shut down, after the Bulgarian side refused to change their names, deemed offensive by the authorities in Skopje.

On Thursday, 18 May, the Bulgarian Foreign Ministry strongly condemned Kovačevski’s statement, saying that “any analogy with the suffering of the Ukrainian people in Russia’s current unjustified war is cynical and unacceptable”.

“The statement of the prime minister of the Republic of North Macedonia once again clearly shows the real attitude of Skopje to the main values of the EU and the rejection of the right to react to the existing deficits”, the ministry statement said.

It further stressed that the European perspective of North Macedonia goes through strict adherence to the agreements of the so-called “French proposal”.

EU mediation under French Presidency resulted in the agreement that the Bulgarian veto on North Macedonia starting EU negotiations will be lifted when ethnic Bulgarians are included in the country’s constitution.

The relations continued to deteriorate when a delegation of Bulgarian politicians, including MEP Andrey Kovatchev, were denied entry to the country over national security issues with group members.

Sofia accuses Skopje of having contradictory entry rules

North Macedonia has contradictory entry rules, said Bulgarian Foreign Minister Ivan Kondov in reaction to the recent refusal to let Bulgarian MEP Andrey Kovatchev (EPP) into the country.

On Tuesday, North Macedonia’s Ambassador to Bulgaria, Agneza Rusi Popovska was summoned to …

On Thursday, Bulgarian President Rumen Radev commented that the leadership of North Macedonia “must convince its own citizens, not Bulgaria, that it is building a democratic state”.

He added that the authorities of North Macedonia can claim to be building a modern, multi-ethnic society only when they find the strength to include “the compatriots of Gotse Delchev in the constitution”.

This statement was perceived as an offence in Skopje. There is a historical dispute between Sofia and Skopje about Delchev, who the Macedonians see as one of the most important figures in their history, but he is also an important figure for Bulgaria.

Revolutionary hero’s identity stands in the way of Skopje’s EU path

Historic figure Gotse Delchev, considered as a national hero both in Bulgaria and North Macedonia, now appears to stand in the way of Skopje’s EU path. EURACTIV Bulgaria reports.

“What we are working on is that the successors of Gotse Delchev will put down the compatriots and successors of Radev into the constitution,” Kovačevski retorted.

He stated that North Macedonia is not negotiating with Bulgaria but with the European Union, and the constitutional changes are part of the negotiation framework with the EU.

Meanwhile, the Bulgarian Socialist Party initiated a motion for the parliament to condemn Skopje’s attitude towards the country.

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