By Simeon Vasilev
Diplomacy is a difficult business. European diplomacy is an even more difficult business. And this is because European politics, especially that related to membership negotiations, is first and foremost a collective effort to find a compromise.
Bulgaria had a difficult path to EU membership. Her experience shows that pragmatism is the most complex diplomatic equation possible for real politics. At the same time, the road has not yet been completed, insofar as Schengen and the Eurozone are on the agenda.
And North Macedonia will inevitably go through it, and it would be better for it to have a shared experience that would lead to a reasonable beginning and not be perceived as a lesson, the kind of complex that North Macedonian President Stevo Pendarovski has. Not long ago, he used the term "recycled Bulgarian politics". Such statements are of course extremely unacceptable (especially from the point of view of cultural and diplomatic communication) and, moreover, they are indicative of recycled Yugoslav politics, from which many North Macedonian politicians still cannot get rid of. And more: such statements hardly make North Macedonia "the most prepared candidate for EU membership at the moment when negotiations begin", as Stevo Pendarovski claims.
As much as the word "reforms" has become a cliché, it is not an abstraction. Its price is the political value of European integration. And it will have to be paid, because European integration is a long process. The question is that it should be paid for with European policy by the governors in Skopje, and not at the expense of either the citizens of North Macedonia or the European citizens. By the way, 18 years have passed since North Macedonia received the status of a candidate country for EU membership. This should be enough time to think about the desire for membership and to reject any type of recycled politics. European membership is not an interest club or just an inside job on the political current of Vardar.
In this sense, there is no North Macedonian option in making European politics. There is only a European version, which, apart from relations between governments, includes mostly relations between people.
"At the moment, the veto is ours - internally. At the moment, we are blocking ourselves on the road to European integration," said Macedonian Prime Minister Dimitar Kovacevski. In this finding is the whole drama of the candidate North Macedonia, related to the most important condition - to change its constitution and guarantee the rights of the Bulgarians in the Republic of North Macedonia by entering them into the constitution.
This is actually the decision that opens the door not only for good neighborly relations with Bulgaria, but also for the European relations of the RSM. Foreign Minister Buyar Osmani made a similar statement. "If we make changes to the Constitution, we will be part of the group that is expected to be part of the EU in the coming years." This is a realized necessity. In fact, Osmani's addition is interesting and indicative of the North Macedonian complex. "But, if we do not accept changes to the constitution, then we will be part of the group of countries that have open questions and then they will be poured out on us - the Treaty with Bulgaria, the Protocol and relations with Bulgaria, the historical issues...".
According to Osmani, "the opponents of the changes in the Constitution practically support the Bulgarian radical ideas that the European perspective of the country must depend on the bilateral relations with the Republic of Bulgaria". Such an opponent is the chairman of the opposition party VMRO-DPMNE, Hristiyan Mitskoski, who calls the inclusion of Bulgarians in the constitution a "Bulgarian dictate". Such accusations spring up like poisonous counterparts of mushrooms after a damp autumn rain and resemble domestic political power struggles rather than European politics.
It is hardly necessary to constantly answer them, but they should not be lightly passed over either. Firstly , Bulgarian ideas are not radical. Over the years, Macedonian statehood has always been supported by Bulgaria. On January 15, 1992, Bulgaria was the first in the world to recognize the sovereignty and independence of the state with the name Republic of Macedonia. It would be good to remind the deputies from the ruling majority in Germany that in June this year adopted a puzzling declaration on North Macedonia, how former German Foreign Minister Hans Dietrich Genscher insisted that recognition of Macedonia should not be rushed. Bulgaria did not comply with this. In this strange resolution of the German Bundestag, the topic of hate speech and the cases of beaten citizens of North Macedonia with Bulgarian self-awareness are absent.
After all, the European Union was created for freedom, justice, democracy, the rule of law and human rights. However, the resolution notes that "according to the compromise reached by the EU Council with North Macedonia in the summer of 2022, a precondition for all further integration steps is an amendment to the constitution". In Macedonia, there are no "Macedonians" with Bulgarian self-awareness, the Bulgarians are defined as a state-building nation - according to the so-called French proposal around which the European partners united.
Second, Sofia respects the Macedonian identity and it is a pity to observe for years how it is speculated with propaganda that Bulgaria does not allow the citizens of North Macedonia to define themselves as Macedonians.
Thirdly, Bulgaria simply insists that Skopje fulfills the commitments made and agreed upon.
Fourth, bilateral relations are an important element of European politics.
Only naive people can imagine that the EU's good neighborhood policy is a collection of empty words, and European membership is possible with unsettled bilateral relations. This naivety is sold in copious doses by radical Macedonian politicians who gamble with their country's European prospects.
The lobbying efforts to circumvent this most important condition (the amendment of the constitution), postpone it through early elections and ignore it, are a big fallacy. Lobbying is always temporary. It's not a sign of political intelligence, just a symptom of maneuvering around mutually exclusive interests that are usually roads to...nowhere. What is permanent are the conclusions of the EU Council from June 2022, the Negotiation Framework of North Macedonia and the bilateral Good Neighbor Agreement from 2017. In this sense, it is too frivolous to claim that Bulgaria sets new conditions for the European integration of the Republic of North Macedonia. It is an obvious forgery that plagues public communication and public attitudes. No more, no less. Bulgaria's condition is a European one, and it is to fulfill the commitments already undertaken by Skopje in the negotiation framework.
Bulgaria has no new requirements. It insists on the implementation of everything recorded and accepted, and there is no way to agree to a renegotiation of the terms in the negotiation framework. The principle "pacta sunt servanda" (treaties must be respected) applies to everyone, including North Macedonia.
It is a fact of reality that North Macedonia is a full member of NATO and is on the threshold of the European Union. Another fact of the same reality is that Bulgaria will always be a neighbor of North Macedonia and it largely depends on whether Skopje will get out of the gray zone of its transition period. Both Bulgaria and North Macedonia have and will have an important role for both Europe and NATO. They must combine European policy and alliance obligations, gather national interests and good neighborly policy. The accession of North Macedonia to the EU will be a political decision, but in order to become a fact, it must also acquire economic logic.
It is precisely this logic that requires work to be done by the specific things done at the right time and in the right place in order for there to be normal conditions for business and investment. Therefore, it is in the Bulgarian and European interest to give North Macedonia a fair chance to show that it is capable of fulfilling all the agreed conditions in order to join the European Union.
From July 1, Spain took over the presidency of the Council of the European Union. Among the priorities of Madrid, which was born with North Macedonian ambitions for membership, is strengthening European unity. There is one key sentence in the declaration of the Spanish Presidency: we will also work to develop our common identity and values and to promote a new stage in the development of the European project.
THE BOTTOM LINE There is only a European version, which, apart from relations between governments, mainly includes relations between people
