The ruling VMRO-DPMNE party in North Macedonia has been threatened with expulsion from the EU centre-right political family (EPP), with Andrey Kovachev, an MEP from Bulgaria’s largest party, GERB, accusing it of aggressive rhetoric against Bulgaria.
“The European People’s Party (EPP) is aware of VMRO-DPMNE’s policy towards Bulgaria. There are possibilities of freezing the party’s membership and removing it from the group,” warned long-time MEP Andrey Kovachev. He is the party’s spokesman on the Macedonian issue in Brussels and Strasbourg.
“Skopje is violating the good-neighbourhood treaty with Bulgaria,” Andrey Kovachev told the Bulgarian agency BGNES.
A day earlier, GERB leader Boyko Borissov said he would inform the EPP leadership about recent statements by VMRO-DPMNE politicians. He was referring to Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Nikoloski, who, in a TV interview, called the Bulgarian president “uncivilised”.
Nikoloski declared that the two countries have no common history, which is a direct violation of the Treaty of Good Neighbourhood and Friendship.
Borissov said that if Nikoloski did not resign, Bulgarian officials should stop holding meetings with representatives of the institutions in Skopje.
Another source of tension between Sofia and Skopje is the scandal over the missing Macedonian flag during the meeting between respective presidents Rumen Radev and Gordana Siljanovska-Davkova.
Andrey Kovachev said that following back and forths and alleged provocations from Skopje, “We have already informed the EPP. There are procedures there, such as an ethics committee, and there are possibilities to freeze membership and to expel any of the parties,” he added.
Kovachev said he had spoken in the past with North Macedonia’s deputy prime minister, Aleksandar Nikoloski.
“We have had talks with him many times, with Mr Nikola Gruevski, with Mr Christian Mitkoski, with the current foreign minister and with previous foreign ministers. They have not spoken in this way. Mr Nikoloski has told me that he knows history, that he knows everything, and that is why I am extremely surprised. This is a violation of the 2017 Treaty of Good Neighbourhood and Friendship,” Kovatchev said.
He explained that North Macedonia’s Prime Minister Christian Mitkoski was in Brussels on Thursday and showed outgoing EU Enlargement Commissioner Oliver Varhelyi the photo of Radev’s meeting with Siljanovska.
“I sent Varhelyi the photos of the Croatian president and prime minister with Mickoski, on which the North Macedonian flag is missing. The visit there was official, but nobody made any hysterics. Siljanovska’s visit to Sofia was unofficial. In terms of protocol, there was no requirement for the flag of North Macedonia to be put up,” Kovatchev said.
Mitkoski commented, “I regret that due to the lack of a serious vision, strategy and projects, the main topic in Bulgaria wants to be (North) Macedonia and the Macedonian issue. I wish them a successful campaign and, after the seventh time, to finally elect a stable and political government with which we, as Macedonians, can build good neighbourly and genuine relations. This is expected from good neighbours, and this is why the Treaty of Good Neighbourhood exists”, Mitkoski added.
(Krassen Nikolov | Euractiv.bg)
Source: euractiv.com
