On August 1 the Premiers of Bulgaria and Macedonia Boyko Borissov and Zoran Zaev signed in Skopje the long-awaited agreement on friendship, good neighborly relations and cooperation. According to many political observers, this was a historical event.

In 1992 Bulgaria was the first country to recognize Macedonia under its constitutional name. Later in 1999 Macedonia’s Premier Lupcho Georgievski and his Bulgarian counterpart Ivan Kostov signed a Declaration on Good Neighbor Relations. In the course of nine whole years different Bulgarian and Macedonian governments have been holding talks in twelve rounds to negotiate a text of the document that is acceptable for both countries.

In 1999 the Declaration on Good Neighbor Relations was signed by a leader of conservative VMRO-DPMNE party. However, that political party refused to support the good neighbor agreement in 2017 and it was signed by the leader of the ruling Social Democratic Union of Macedonia instead. However, all political parties represented at the Bulgarian National Assembly stood in support of the agreement on friendship, good neighborly relations and cooperation. Meanwhile, not all representatives of Macedonia’s opposition party VMRO-DPMNE share the same view on that topic and their positions are likely to evolve soon.

The significance of the good neighbor agreement is proved by the international reactions as well. Right after the event on Tuesday the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini and the EU Commissioner for European Neighborhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations Johannes Hahn pointed out in a joint statement that the good neighbor agreement between Bulgaria and Macedonia is a positive step forward with the development of the neighbor relations and boosts Macedonia’s EU perspective. Germany’s Federal Minister of Foreign Affairs Sigmar Gabriel stated that the good neighbor agreement between the two countries was historical and sent an important signal of successful bilateral and regional cooperation in the Balkans. The French Ministry of Foreign Affairs commented that the good neighbor agreement would enable Sofia and Skopje to enhance their bilateral relations and cooperation which are of great importance for the process of European integration. The Embassies of the USA to Sofia and Skopje also voiced similar positions right before the ratification of the agreement.

Bulgaria’s Premier Boyko Borissov and this country’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Ekaterina Zaharieva realistically described the good neighbor agreement as a step forward towards the full normalization of the relations with Macedonia which at the end of the day would depend on the practical implementation of the clauses that were negotiated in the document. Macedonia and Bulgaria showed determination to speed up the implementation of the agreement and signed simultaneously intergovernmental memorandums for development of the railway links between Sofia and Skopje and cooperation in the energy field.

When in June Macedonia’s Premier Zoran Zaev assured during his visit to Sofia that Macedonia was closing a chapter in the history of nationalism and hatred and was opening a new chapter - European future for all, Radio Bulgaria commented reservedly that the good intentions were stated, yet they had to be fulfilled. Now, after yesterday’s ratification of the good neighbor agreement between the two countries we have much more reasons for optimism.

English version: Kostadin Atanasov