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

published on 6/26/23 2:24 PM

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.

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

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