Skopje sharply attacked the Vice President of Bulgaria, Iliana Yotova, who, according to the Macedonians, deliberately destabilized the bilateral relations between the two countries.
The relations between Bulgaria and North Macedonia have often become a victim of internal political dynamics in Bulgaria, and politicians have tried to use this issue for political dividends, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of North Macedonia Bujar Osmani told journalists today in Skopje, BTA reported.
According to him, unfortunately, Vice President Iliana Yotova was the leader of “such a campaign against North Macedonia and the Macedonian people in an attempt to create her own political profile”. “This was rejected not only in North Macedonia, but also in Bulgaria. It is increasingly seen that certain actors in political life without any sense of the importance of the bilateral relations of the two countries are abusing this topic for political purposes and I can only condemn this because it does not lead to anything good in the relations between the two countries which are NATO allies,” Osmani said.
His words are in response to a journalistic question related to the various messages that, according to the media in the country, are being sent by the Speaker of the Bulgarian Parliament, Rosen Zhelyazkov, and the Vice President, Iliana Yotova. “Zhelyazkov with a call for dialogue, Yotova with another refrain”, in this spirit were some of the headlines in the media in North Macedonia after the visit to Skopje of Rosen Jhelyazkov and Yotova’s words during the celebration of the 100th anniversary of the Macedonian Scientific Institute, which took place in Sofia.
Osmani was also asked about the reaction to the allegations that appeared in the media in North Macedonia related to the population census in Albania and pressure from Bulgaria to “register Macedonians in Albania as Bulgarians”. “I hope that every citizen of Albania has used their right to define themselves in the census as they feel, because no one has the right to put pressure,” replied Osmani, who specified that he was in communication with the authorities in Albania, and the embassy of the country in Tirana “is active in this area”.
Allegations of pressure during the census in Albania by Bulgaria were spread by former member of the Albanian parliament and chairman of a party in Albania that defines itself as Macedonian, Vasil Sterovski. According to him, “the main threat mechanism is the Bulgarian passports, which in case they declare themselves as Macedonians, will be taken away from them or will not be issued at all to those who have applied for them”. Sterovski insists on extending the period of the census in Albania, because according to him “the inhabitants of the Macedonian regions were not counted, because a large part of those living there secure their livelihood with seasonal work in neighboring countries”.
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2023-11-15 17:20:00
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