Atanas Velichkov: The proposal of the lower councils is the best for Bulgaria and North Macedonia
Photo: EPA/BGNES
After a week of street protests in Skopje against the French framework proposal to start negotiations on the accession of North Macedonia to the EU, the question of why the rulers of our southwestern neighbor are delaying the decision is interesting. “The rulers of North Macedonia are convinced that they should not reject the French proposal. But because of the danger of new elections, you will try to compensate for the adoption of the decision in the parliament until the intensity of the protests subsides.” Atanas Velichkov stated this in an interview with Radio Bulgaria. He is the editor-in-chief of the Macedonian website tribuna.mk, where the positions of the Bulgarians in the country are reflected in the local language norm.
Could the rejection of the French proposal lead to an increase in inter-ethnic tensions with the Albanians in the country? The journalist is skeptical:
“I am not employed to give such bold manifestations that the ethnic peace in the country is on the map. very scary. But he will say again, he thinks that both the Slavs and the Albanians in North Macedonia have already been recruited here. I don’t believe there is anything that knows what kind of clashes on the ethnic basis”.
Velichkov said that despite the protests, there is no increase in the negative attitude towards the Bulgarian community in North Macedonia:
“We are used to the negative attitude especially of the official authorities here, with the technique, as I call it systematized hate speech. The stigmatization of Bulgarians here is universal. It is possible that if a more prominent Bulgarian appears at the protests, it will become some kind of problem, but as pressure – something more than what people always endure here, I still do not have such information. There are threats on social networks, but this is a regular practice. We’re used to it now.”
The journalist confirmed the information that among the protesters against the “Bulgarianization of North Macedonia in the EU” there are also those dissatisfied with the Bulgarian passports. That many of them, according to their professional advantage and the political conjuncture, appear as Bulgarians, after ancient Macedonians and again as Macedonians from the time of Yugoslavia. “A large part of the people who are there, yes, they also have Bulgarian passports. Let’s not forget that the most people with Bulgarian passports are the people who are members of the major political parties VMRO-DPMNE and SDSM. the biggest irony”, explains Velichkov and foresees that even in the family of Hristijan Mickovski, leader of the largest Macedonian opposition party VMRO-DPMNE, there are also relatives with Bulgarian passports.
Atanas Velichkov does not expect the new Czech presidency of the EU to change the French framework proposal.
“I do not believe in such a development of something, for the simple reason that if there is any change, Bulgaria must immediately return the process from the beginning. for the two countries”. If it comes to anything that changes, Bulgaria must firmly defend its positions as before, immediately start the negotiations from the beginning and if necessary – impose a new blockade, the journalist believes.
Photos: BGNES, EPA/BGNES
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