U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and High Representative/Vice President of the European Commission Josep Borrell called upon North Macedonia to accept a compromise proposal with Bulgaria to move forward with the accession process for North Macedonia's European Union membership.
Blinken and Borrell said the compromise “takes into account the interests and concerns of both North Macedonia and Bulgaria,” according to the July 9 joint statement.
“We welcome a compromise proposal which takes into account the interests and concerns of both North Macedonia and Bulgaria based on mutual respect, trust and understanding,” Blinken and Borrell said in their statement. “The sovereign decision of the Parliament of North Macedonia will be important to move forward.”
North Macedonia has been a candidate for membership into the EU for 17 years, but their accession has been blocked by Bulgarian objections, AP News reported July 6. This is due to Bulgaria's demand for North Macedonia to formally recognize that the nation's language has Bulgarian roots, and the demand for the country to recognize a Bulgarian minority in the country and protect their rights.
France drafted a compromise that calls for North Macedonia to acknowledge the existence of an ethnic Bulgarian minority in their constitution. Bulgaria accepted the deal, which was backed by North Macedonian President Stevo Pendarovski and Prime Minister Dimitar Kovacevski, AP News reported July 9.
North Macedonians have protested the deal since its announcement at the NATO Summit in Madrid. AP News named the center-right VMRO-DPMNE political party as the main opposition.
Primary opposition stems from the belief that the proposal favors Bulgaria and threatens North Macedonia's history, language, identity, culture and heritage. As a result, thousands have been protesting in the country's capital, Skopje, since the deal was first announced, AP News reported.
