Podcast in English
Text size
Bulgarian National Radio © 2025 All Rights Reserved

President Radev: North Macedonia's EU accession should be conditional on fulfilling the membership criteria, not on lobbying

Photo: BGNES

In a letter to European leaders and institutions, President Rumen Radev calls for the accession of the Republic of North Macedonia to the EU to be linked to the fulfillment of the membership criteria, not to lobbying. 

According to Radev, EU member states can support the integration processes of the Republic of North Macedonia by urging Skopje to focus on respecting human rights and the principles of good neighbourliness. 

"Instead of addressing these requirements, Skopje is again relying on active lobbying to cover up its lack of political will to meet the membership criteria. Attacks and hate speech against Bulgaria are escalating, "blacklists" are being introduced to ban Bulgarian citizens from entering the country, cases of physical violence, administrative and judicial harassment of people with a Bulgarian identity and constant threats to their jobs simply because they are Bulgarian are increasing. This atmosphere seriously hampers the development of trade, economic and cultural ties between the two countries," the President further wrote.



Последвайте ни и в Google News Showcase, за да научите най-важното от деня!
Listen to the daily news from Bulgaria presented in "Bulgaria Today" podcast, available in Spotify.

More from category

Warm autumn weather in the forecast

On Wednesday minimum temperatures will range between 3° C. and 8° C., for Sofia around 4° C. Visibility will be diminished in the morning in the valleys and lowlands. During the day the weather will be predominantly sunny with a temporary increase..

published on 10/21/25 6:45 PM

Myara agency: Crimes and incidents continue to be a major source of tension

Social tensions from 1 July until 30 September this year are estimated at an index of 6.09, meaning “risks that are difficult to control”, on a scale of 1 to 210, indicates a survey by the sociological agency Myara, the Bulgarian news agency BTA..

published on 10/21/25 4:09 PM
Parliament building

The ruling coalition discuss the future of the cabinet behind closed doors

A meeting of the coalition partners took place early this morning, during a sitting of the National Assembly, to discuss the possible reformatting of the government. Such a change was first made mention of by GERB leader Boyko Borissov after his party..

updated on 10/21/25 3:12 PM