Bulgaria Notifies European Commission of Refusal to Accept Proposed Negotiating Framework for Republic of North Macedonia and the Accompanying Declaration
06 November 2020 News
The Republic of Bulgaria notified the European Commission that it would not be able to accept the currently proposed negotiating framework for the Republic of North Macedonia and the draft declaration annexed thereto, because it does not provide the necessary guarantees for the fulfilment of the conditions laid down by Bulgaria.
Bulgaria also thanked the German Presidency of the European Council and Commissioner for Neighbourhood and Enlargement Oliver Varhelyi for their constructive approach and joint efforts in search of a solution that could yet be achieved despite the short deadlines.
Bulgaria considers unacceptable the option of its conditions to the Republic of North Macedonia to be set in a declaration by the Council of the European Union
to be annexed to the negotiating framework. A Council declaration is not a legally binding instrument and hence would not provide the legal guarantees that Bulgaria seeks. Bulgaria would have received such guarantees if its demands had been reflected in the negotiating framework, something Bulgaria insisted on.