Xhaferi-Radev: Bulgaria to fully support Macedonia’s bid to join EU, NATO


Macedonia’s Parliament Speaker Talat Xhaferi and Bulgaria’s President Rumen Radev agreed Saturday that the bilateral friendship treaty  opens new possibilities in the relations between the two countries and demonstrates Sofia’s commitment to support Skopje’s efforts to join the European Union and NATO.

Xhaferi commended Bulgaria’s support of the Western Balkan countries’ accession to the EU and NATO, the parliament said in a press release.

‘Macedonia’s accession to these organizations remains the country’s top priority. The experience of Bulgaria and its institutions may contribute substantially to the realization of these objectives. Macedonia’s leadership has been making efforts to advance the relations with the neighbors, taking concrete steps, such as the sighing of the friendship treaty with Bulgaria and settling the open issues with Greece. Hence the expectations are for Macedonia to obtain a date for commencing the EU accession talks and for NATO to confirm the 2018 membership invitation for the country to finally become the Alliance’s members,’ Xhaferi said.

President Radev on his part commended the Macedonian Parliament for ratifying the bilateral friendship treaty, saying that it opens new dimensions for the country’s EU perspective. Therefore, it is very important for the parliaments of both countries, namely the commissions for European affairs, foreign policy and defense to intensify their cooperation.

He also underlined the significance for the ruling and opposition parties to cooperation and reach consensus on the country’s strategic goals, such as the EU, NATO membership, the press release reads.