The new prime ministers of Northern Macedonia and Bulgaria, Dimitar Kovacevski and Kiril Petkov, laid flowers together today in Skopje at the monuments to educators Cyril and Methodius and Saints Clement and Nahum, which citizens of both neighboring countries consider their own.
The Government of Northern Macedonia said that Kovacevski and Petkov “jointly paid tribute to the All-Slavic educators, the holy brothers Cyril and Methodius, and St. Clement and St. Naum, as another confirmation of the importance of cooperation between the two countries and strengthening mutual trust. the progress of the people of the two countries “.
The prime ministers then crossed the Stone Bridge, in the center of Skopje, and visited the office of the Bulgarian news agency BTA, marking the beginning of its work in northern Macedonia.
During the joint session of the governments of the two countries, on January 25 in Sofia, the office of the state news agency of Northern Macedonia MIA in Bulgaria will be opened, in the Macedonian Cultural and Information Center, it is stated.
Kovachevski and Petkov, who is on a one-day official visit to Skopje, agreed earlier today, at their first meeting, that Bulgaria would accept the use of the short name Northern Macedonia. Thus, according to Kovacevski, they eliminated one controversial issue from the negotiating table.
That means Bulgaria will no longer hamper the use of the short name Northern Macedonia in any international or bilateral process, Kovachevski told a joint news conference after a meeting in Skopje, at which he called Petkova “dear friend Kiril”.
Sofia has been blocking the start of northern Macedonia’s accession talks with the EU since December 2020, insisting that Skopje first meet the conditions of the Neighborhood Agreement with Bulgaria.
This, as they stated earlier in Sofia, includes the cessation of hate speech towards Bulgaria, the distortion of historical facts in textbooks and elsewhere, and discrimination against citizens who declare themselves as Bulgarians.
Sofia also demanded that the long name of the neighboring country, the Republic of Northern Macedonia, always be used in international and EU documents, and that Skopje formally confirm that it has no aspirations towards Bulgaria.