We are working on the dynamics of meetings with Sofia, we offer solutions and we put a clear red line, says Mucunski

Macedonian Foreign Minister Timco Mucunski said today that it is working on reinforcing the dynamics of meetings with official Sofia and that we are ready to find rational solutions within European values, but to put a clear red line on certain issues related to identity attributes.

-It is ours to offer solutions, but to put a clear red line that on certain issues Macedonian citizens and our government are not ready to negotiate and discuss. Regarding the redefinition of our identity, on issues of the historical nature that we can with absolute certainty, regarding issues with other identity attributes of the Macedonian people, we are not ready to talk about such issues, but yes, we are ready to find rational solutions within European values, It also works foreign trade.

He noted that it is about reinforcing the dynamics of meetings with official Sofia and that there is an initiative to meet at the NATO Summit in The Hague at the end of the month.

-We hope that that meeting will happen, there is intensified communication in the coming days, we still cannot confirm anything. President Siljanovska Davkova, together with the Minister of Defense, will be part of that delegation and we hope that such a meeting will be able to give impetus to finding a solution – Mucunski said, answering journalist questions.

He recalled that the country is committed to European integration and that concrete steps have been taken as if the state moved forward in European integration.

-In the last year of the government’s mandate, we became the first country in the region to sign a security and defense partnership with the EU, we became part of a common European payment system -SEPA. We have become the first country in the region to receive funds from the growth plan. Which means that we have not only shown that we are committed to the process of European integration, but we also have concrete benefits of moving forward to the EU. Therefore, I say, concrete steps have been taken as if the state moves forward to full membership, but that political barrier from Bulgaria exists, as these measures move the country to full EU membership, but cannot replace the process of opening negotiations – Mucunski said.

He informs that they also have ongoing communication with all Member States, the focus is with the European Commission and the European Parliament, as well as as appropriate channels of communication with Bulgaria, which is blocking this process.

« We do not say it will be easy, but we think that if we have principled positions, if we have a clear attitude, if Bulgaria develops awareness of geopolitical developments -there will be an understanding in Sofia that this process should be unlocked as soon as possible, » Mucunski said.

Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski this weekend informed that communication with the European Commission’s office in the country had been implemented after the initiative to meet with the Bulgarian side and that there is a proposal a term waiting for Bulgaria to vote. President Gordana Siljanovska Davkova, on Friday, said on Friday that although it is a rule to have a meeting with her homologue, it is not a problem to talk to Bulgarian Prime Minister Rosen Zeljazkov at the NATO Summit in The Hague, as it has been confirmed that her Bulgarian counterpart, President Rumen Radev, does not come to Hague.