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Bulgarian Parliament already has the French proposal on the issue of North Macedonia

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The French proposal for a decision on the veto imposed by Bulgaria for the start of negotiations of the Republic of North Macedonia for EU membership has been sent to the Foreign Policy Committee of the National Assembly. 

The Bulgarian National Radio has documents in French and English sent by the French Presidency to the Chair of the Foreign Policy Committee, Ventsislava Lyubenova. They note that special attention should be paid to "the protection and non-discrimination of citizens from minority groups and communities in North Macedonia". 
The EU notes the intentions of Bulgaria and North Macedonia to make a unilateral declaration on the Macedonian language.The negotiation framework includes the requirement for good faith implementation of bilateral agreements, including the 2017 Neighborhood Agreement with Bulgaria and the Sofia Declaration of May 2018. 

North Macedonia will have to adopt an Action Plan to protect the rights of minorities, education, the fight against hate speech and discrimination, etc. 

Progress on this issue will be monitored by the Commission, which will report to the Council.

Earlier today, EU Enlargement Commissioner Olivér Várhelyi noted in Brussels that negotiations to lift Bulgaria's veto over North Macedonia are deadlocked and that at this stage we cannot talk about any negotiating framework at all. He also pointed out that the domestic policy in Bulgaria could undermine the trust in the EU.


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