Bulgaria said on Monday it was concerned by what it described as “fabricated theses” by authorities in North Macedonia regarding an action plan on minority and community rights, warning that recent statements from Skopje diverged from the EU-backed consensus reached in 2022.
The Bulgarian foreign ministry was responding to remarks by North Macedonian Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski, who said at the weekend that the government had completed the action plan months ago with the involvement of European experts, but that Bulgaria had rejected it – a move he said showed that Sofia’s objections went beyond EU membership criteria.
In a statement, Bulgaria’s foreign ministry said the question of which language the action plan should be written in was an internal matter for North Macedonia and not part of bilateral relations. The document, it said, should logically be accessible to the country’s own citizens, as it would be implemented by domestic institutions.
“The choice of Skopje to present the draft of this plan to its citizens in English is difficult to explain, especially if the plan is genuinely intended to be implemented,” the ministry said.
Sofia also stressed that the minority rights action plan was meant to follow the inclusion of ethnic Bulgarians in North Macedonia’s constitution – a step Bulgaria has made a condition for Skopje to formally open EU accession talks.
Mickoski, however, said Bulgaria’s objection was not to the substance of the document but to the fact that it was drafted in the Macedonian language.
“No EU member state and no minority in North Macedonia objected after the public debate. The only problem, they say, was the language,” Mickoski said, calling Macedonian his mother tongue and the country’s official language for international communication.
He added that all technical and political requirements had been met, including suggestions from international experts, and that the plan had been sent to Bulgaria ahead of the official deadline as a gesture of goodwill requested by Brussels.
Bulgarian media, meanwhile, quoted representatives of the Bulgarian community in North Macedonia as saying they had been presented with a 37-page draft in English during a meeting on Dec. 2, arguing that the document did not adequately protect their rights and served mainly to satisfy EU institutions.
Despite the dispute, Bulgaria’s foreign ministry welcomed Mickoski’s statement that he would consider other comments from the Bulgarian community and said it expected him to honour that pledge.
Relations between Bulgaria and North Macedonia have been strained for years over historical, linguistic and identity issues, with Sofia using its EU membership to block Skopje’s accession path.
Under a compromise brokered by the EU in 2022, North Macedonia agreed to amend its constitution to include ethnic Bulgarians as a recognised community, in exchange for the lifting of Bulgaria’s veto on opening accession talks.
The current centre-right government in Skopje has been critical of the deal, arguing that Bulgaria continues to raise new demands, while Sofia insists it is only asking for full implementation of agreed commitments.
North Macedonia has yet to pass the constitutional amendments, which require a two-thirds parliamentary majority.