The consultative summit meeting convened by President Rumen Radev in connection with the invitation expected to be extended to North Macedonia to start EU accession negotiations in October, decided that a national position on the matter should be developed with clear-cut requirements and criteria that will uphold Bulgaria’s national interest.

According to the participants these requirements should be enshrined in the negotiating framework and become a sine qua non for the country’s accession to the EU. The Bulgarian President stressed that it is particularly important to set down red lines that will guarantee that the European integration of North Macedonia will not be at the expense of Bulgaria’s history, language and identity as a bargaining chip. Prime Minister Boyko Borissov cautioned that Sofia’s support for North Macedonia’s membership of the EU has never been unconditional and that the country must not waste this chance. Sofia wants North Macedonia to progress, in its EU pre-accession negotiations, together with Albania, Boyko Borissov said.