President Radev: French proposal on North Macedonia contains most of Bulgaria's requirements

The French EU Presidency's proposal about the Republic of North Macedonia (RNM) contains many of the basic Bulgarian requirements, but it could have been much more successful if our politicians had paid more attention to this process, President Rumen Radev told journalists at the Graf Ignatievo air base where he attended the celebration of the 110th anniversary of the first combat flight of the Bulgarian combat aviation.

According to Radev, the diplomats of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs have relied mainly on the presidential institution, wasting time and energy to put the "divergent policy" of Prime Minister Kiril Petkov within acceptable limits.

The head of State reminded that he had long insisted that Macedonian Bulgarians be included in the constitution of RNM. "It is a fact that this was accepted by the French Presidency of the Council of the EU, but it is paradoxical that it was easier to convince the French President and European leaders than the Bulgarian Prime Minister whose cabinet did not even take responsibility for its actions and did not leave enough time for the institutions and the public to get acquainted with the case," Radev said.

He added that at the last Consultative Council on National Security (CCNS) he insisted that the inclusion of Macedonian Bulgarians in the constitution be a mandatory condition for the start of negotiations for Skopje's accession to the EU. "Prime Minister Petkov, his ministers and all participating parties except There Is Such a People rejected this proposal and accepted it only when it was put forward by President Macron," Radev said.