Between Bulgaria and North Macedonia there is a mechanism to reduce tension and to identify manifestations of hatred.

This mechanism is clearly spelled out in a protocol between the two foreign ministries from last year, but is not implemented.

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Relations Bulgaria - Republic of Macedonia 818

This position was expressed by Vesela Cherneva from the European Council for Foreign Policy, adviser to former Prime Minister Kiril Petkov on foreign policy before the BNR.

"We cannot say that there are not enough tools. In recent months, we see that there is indeed an increase in tension," Cherneva reports.

She added that when there is such a rise in tension, it further makes the life of the Bulgarians in the RSM more difficult.

"We saw a Bulgarian MEP threatening the Macedonian Prime Minister with an assassination attempt. Such threats should not be part of bilateral relations either. Maintaining a good tone and decency would help the Bulgarians living in North Macedonia much more than this rather irresponsible approach."

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Cherneva assessed the summoning of our ambassador from Skopje as an "immoderate gesture" because, in her words, "such gestures are made in exceptional situations".

"This situation is starting to look to me as intentional. The trajectory of bilateral relations, which spirals downwards, is very easy. The hard work is the opposite - to create an environment in which such things do not happen," commented Vesela Cherneva in the program " Before everyone".

After so many years of hostility, things cannot be left to happen by themselves, she stated and specified that at this moment there are no complaints from Bulgarians from North Macedonia in the European Court of Human Rights.

"This type of escalation always appears when it smells of elections," Cherneva emphasized.

According to her, there are parties on both sides of the border that use the tension to boost their ratings.

"And they hope to feed off electorally. Normal people find themselves in the middle, squeezed by extremes on both sides, and victims of that pressure."

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Vesela Cherneva also emphasized on processes "that move us away from the heart of European integration and put us in a very marginal position that can be swept away when we deal with bilateral disputes".

"The quality of our European membership is increasingly weakening."

Relations between Bulgaria and the Republic of Macedonia

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