Bulgaria's Foreign Minister Reiterates Insistence on Good-Neighbors Treaty with Macedonia

Foreign Minister Kristian Vigenin has reiterated Bulgaria's commitment to signing a good neighbor agreement with Macedonia, stressing that the treaty will pave the way toward the country's EU accession.

Speaking at a meeting with Ali Ahmeti, leader of the the Democratic Union for Integration, DUI, Vigenin suggested that the signing of the good neighbor agreement with Macedonia was "one of the elements on which the next steps towards Macedonia's EU integration depends, alongside the implementation of domestic reforms in response to EC recommendations."

"Bulgaria and the other EU Member States from the region will only become a true part of the EU when all countries in the Western Balkans, including the Republic of Macedonia, have joined the EU. Only when we are all united in one economic area, which is governed according to common democratic values and the rule of law, shall we be able to secure a better future for our citizens," Vigenin said during Tuesday's meeting, according to the press office of Bulgaria's Foreign Ministry.

He argued that it was important to implement joint initiatives aimed at boosting mutual trust between the two countries parallel to the negotiations on the good neighbor agreement.

"If we look only back, we will miss the unique chance the EU gives us. EU membership sometimes requires compromise which every Member State has had to make for the sake of a better future," Vigenin stated.

Ahmeti pointed out that Macedonia "has always been interested in maintaining friendly relations with Bulgaria because, above all, we are neighbor countries."

"There is no reasons to erect barricades between our two countries. We have to sit and talk, because once dialogue starts, it may well lead to a compromise which results in the solution of the problems," Ahmeti declared.

Bulgaria has long been fully supportive of Macedonia's Euro-Atlantic integration, yet the center-right GERB government opposed setting a date for the start of Macedonia's EU accession talks, stressing that it would not give the green light to Skopje unless the country signed the good neighbor agreement with Bulgaria.

Despite the fact that Vigenin, Foreign Minister in Bulgaria's current socialist-led Cabinet, adopted a more moderate policy toward Macedonia, the two countries have not yet signed a good neighbor agreement, mediapool.bg notes.

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