Ekaterina Zaharieva to fellow participants in the Berlin Process: Let’s tell young people in the Balkans the truth, rather than ignore our common history
11 April 2019 News
WARSAW. - ‘Politicians in the Balkans turned out to be braver than historians. Now it’s time to also rewrite the textbooks because we need to tell our young people the truth, and not ignore our common history and teach them nationalism.’ That was the message Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Ekaterina Zaharieva conveyed in Warsaw at the meeting of foreign Ministers from the Berlin Process.
The forum aimed to prepare the Summit Meeting of the Berlin Process for the Western Balkans, to be held in Poznan in July, and the ministers also discussed bilateral issues in the region in an open and honest dialog.
Bulgaria’s top diplomat focused on the current state of our bilateral relations with the Republic of North Macedonia, as in the common opinion of all of her colleagues it were those relations that provided an impetus for the European integration of the entire region.
‘We in the Balkans are all very emotional people and that’s the way it was during the negotiations on the Treaty of Friendship, Good Neighborliness and Cooperation with the Republic of North Macedonia, but ultimately we achieved a positive outcome. The cornerstone of our bilateral relations is our common history. One-third of Bulgarians actually trace their roots to the geographic area of North Macedonia; in every family there is at least one ancestor who shed blood for the Liberation of Macedonia,’ Zaharieva pointed out.
Further, the Bulgarian Deputy Prime Minister stated the following facts: ‘The visible trade and tourism between us have both increased. We were among the first countries to have ratified the NATO Accession Treaty of the Republic of North Macedonia. People from both sides of the border want to connect. And yet, we still have to come a long way with regard to our common history: we have set up a bilateral multidisciplinary commission, but sometimes I see more goodwill on the part of the governments than on the part of the Macedonian members of that commission.’
‘First we settled our open question with the neighbors in Sofia, and then with Athens. Katya and I had to work a lot, because this is a region steeped in history, but sometimes we just cannot put that history to good use in order to look forward, into the future,’ said Nikola Dimitrov, the Foreign Minister of the Republic of North Macedonia. ‘Mutual trust is very important and I believe that Katya and I have managed to achieve that. During our talks with Bulgaria I realized that we should also consider each other’s interests, as neighbors, and that ultimately both sides need to be happy, rather than have winners and losers. The talks were difficult, and so is the implementation of the treaty.’
The top diplomats of the countries of the Berlin process and the Western Balkans were unanimous that the Treaty between Sofia and Skopje had been the first political act to speed up the processes of the Euro-Atlantic integration of the entire region.
‘The Treaty with Bulgaria has been a true inspiration for the region. Now we look forward to getting rid of the roaming charges and working on connectivity,’ said Jacek Czaputowicz, the Polish Foreign Minister, whose country now has the rotational chair of the Berlin process.
‘We and the Bulgarians have been in conflict for much longer than Germany and France, but now we are an excellent example of good neighborly relations,’ added Georgios Katrougalos, the Foreign Minister of Greece.
The Berlin Process is a diplomatic initiative launcher personally by Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany in August 2014. The process comprises the countries of the Western Balkans: Serbia, the Republic of North Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro and Albania, as well as the following EU member states: Germany, France, Austria, Italy, Croatia, Slovenia, Poland, Greece and Bulgaria.
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