Bulgaria acts not from the position of power, but from the position of truth, President Rumen Radev said in Sofia at the conference "European perspective for good-neighbourly relations between Bulgaria and North Macedonia".

He urged Skopje to leave behind the Yugoslav totalitarian ideologies that cripple the bilateral dialogue. North Macedonia’s European perspective has no alternative. Bulgaria has always extended a hand and helped in various crises, but unfortunately there has been no policy of reciprocity, the President stressed.

To counteract the Macedonian propaganda abroad, Bulgaria should conduct a much more active information and awareness campaign, especially on the foreign front, Rumen Radev pointed out.

He called on the National Assembly to send a letter to the US Congress on the draft resolution, which provides for September to be proclaimed by congressmen as the month of Macedonian culture, language and heritage. "Only with the truth can we resolve all open issues with our counterparts in North Macedonia," the Head of State said. 

Skopje's path to the EU cannot bypass Sofia, said the President and added that all the participants in the conference were united in the position that the European integration of North Macedonia is a strategic goal for Bulgaria, but it should be based on the development of good neighbourliness and not on externally imposed deadlines.

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For years we have not been able to reach an agreement with our colleagues from Skopje to celebrate Gotse Delchev in both countries as a unifying historical personality, for political reasons, said prof. Angel Dimitrov, Chairman of the Bulgarian-Macedonian Joint Commission on Historical Issues.