Macedonian Foreign Minister Timcho Mucunski reacted to statements by Bulgaria’s new Foreign Minister Velislava Petrova-Chamova after both attended a meeting in Brussels, saying that the two did not hold an official bilateral meeting and that the term “North Macedonian” is incorrect and inappropriate when referring to the Macedonian people. Petrova-Chamova had said she had a “good first meeting” with Mucunski and told her “North Macedonian partners” that Bulgaria’s position from 2022 is no longer a bilateral issue, but part of the discussion between the European Union and a candidate country.
Mucunski responded that there had only been a brief exchange of words on the sidelines of an event, in the presence of several colleagues. He wrote that if a one-minute conversation is called a “meeting,” then he had many “meetings” that day. He added that he hoped a real meeting would soon take place in a friendly and positive atmosphere, focused on building good-neighborly relations and a shared European future.
The Macedonian minister also directly objected to Petrova-Chamova’s wording, saying that “Macedonians are Macedonians.” He stated that this is not a matter of politics, but of basic respect for the identity and dignity of a people, adding that precision in diplomacy is not a formality, but a reflection of respect.
Petrova-Chamova, speaking from Brussels, said Bulgaria expects concrete steps from Macedonia that would show full political readiness to continue on the European path. She said Sofia’s position from 2022 has broad political consensus in Bulgaria and is now part of the EU enlargement framework. The reports note that this refers to the commitments linked to the so-called French proposal, including the inclusion of Bulgarians in the Preamble of the Macedonian Constitution as a condition for the next intergovernmental conference with the EU.
The reports also recall that the broader package of obligations includes respect for the 2017 Good-Neighborliness Treaty and the two protocols signed between the two countries. These include measures related to hate speech, opening archives of Yugoslav-era services and rehabilitation of victims of the communist regime, according to the information cited in the articles.
The exchange also triggered a reaction from opposition leader Venko Filipche, who asked why Mucunski had hidden that he had met the Bulgarian minister, after Mucunski described the contact as a one-minute conversation rather than a meeting. Filipche said that whether the encounter was formal or informal, the message from Petrova-Chamova was clear: without fulfilling the obligations, Macedonia could lose the opportunity to be part of the EU enlargement process in the coming years.
