/ world today news/ Even if Prime Minister Kiril Petkov has a great desire to lift the veto for the Republic of North Macedonia, he will not do it, because the next day he will not be Prime Minister, and the government will fall. This was told to Euronews by Petar Vitanov, head of the Delegation of the Bulgarian Socialists in the EP.
Vitanov was a guest of the morning block after returning from Washington, where he was part of a European Parliament delegation, but also held a number of other political meetings with representatives of the Democratic Party. Two weeks earlier, he also had talks with representatives of the ruling party in Germany in Berlin.
“The goal is for the BSP to restore its ties with the leading parties. “Unfortunately, the contacts have been cut off and the BSP is in foreign policy isolation,” said Vitanov. According to him, the reason is that the policies of the Bulgarian left are very different from those of the other socialist and social democratic parties.
“In recent years, the BSP has emphasized conservative and nationalist policies, which is drastically at variance with the progressive ideas of the European left parties,” said Petar Vitanov and specified that he had found the same two weeks ago in Berlin, where he had a series of meetings with the rulers of The German Social Democratic Party (SPD).
On the topic of gas supplies and the expectation that the US and other countries will compensate for the stopped supplies from Russia, Vitanov stressed that a permanent solution is needed.
“The gas decision was ideological, it was not based on any economic logic,” Vitanov also said and gave an example that Poland was able to deal with the situation much more successfully, taking advantage of the Russian-German treaty, which now provides to people and businesses with even 10 percent cheaper supplies.
“When KEVR says that we will pay 40 percent more expensive heating, it is clearly not a question of having cheaper gas. It is worrying that this leads to further impoverishment, inflation and severe economic consequences, and we do not see a lasting solution,” the MEP also said.
Regarding another hot topic of recent days – the decision on North Macedonia, Petar Vitanov was adamant that the citizens will not be indifferent to the government’s decision to lift the veto in the current state of the negotiations.
“I want to believe that there should be no binding of the issue of North Macedonia with tankers, with the Sustainable Development Plan or Schengen. There can be no trading with these things, because it is a key decision with an extremely wide public response,” commented the socialist.
According to him, from his international meetings in recent weeks, he was left with the impression that commitments were made to drop the Bulgarian veto.
“The truth is that there are very high expectations and therefore there is serious pressure on our country. However, even if the prime minister and the government have the great desire to lift the veto, this cannot be done, because the government will fall if there is no significant breakthrough in the relations between the two countries,” comments Petar Vitanov.
He explained again that it is important to understand what the Bulgarian society wants, and an agreement between the two countries can open the borders and speed up the processes.
“The issue with North Macedonia is already connected with the issue with Ukraine, which is fighting for a fast track to the EU. In order for this to happen, the Western Balkans – North Macedonia and Albania – must be given a perspective,” Vitanov further explained. According to him, the separation of Albania and North Macedonia is not appropriate, because it will lead to destabilization in the region.
“The EU must guarantee that there will be a bilateral agreement, if the EU imposes a decision – there will be resistance from Bulgarian society, which will ask itself why it is under new pressure,” concluded the MEP.
To contact the Group of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats in the EP:
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