Demonstration against the agreement with Bulgaria in North Macedonia
Several thousand people gathered in the streets of Skopje this Saturday at the call of nationalists. Demonstrators rallied against a draft agreement aimed at resolving the historic dispute with Bulgaria.
Many Macedonian nationalists gathered in the streets of the capital Skopje this Saturday.
AFP
Thousands of people protested in Skopje on Saturday at the call of nationalists against a draft agreement aimed at resolving a historic dispute with Bulgaria that has prevented North Macedonia from starting EU accession talks. The rally was supported by the main opposition party, the nationalist right-wing VMRO-DPMNE, whose leader Hristijn Mickoski said: “We don’t need it if Europe is to be integrated!”
“I don’t want to be part of Europe, because I have the right to be a Macedonian, speak the Macedonian language, fight for my identity and my culture,” he added, addressing protesters who were declaring “no” with Macedonian flags and banners. to the EU” or “Partisans, don’t negotiate with fascists!” and cries of ‘treason’.
Since 2020, the Bulgarian position has prevented the opening of negotiations with Skopje, but with Tirana, the two candidacies have been linked by the EU. Sophia lifted her veto on 24 June under certain conditions. According to the recently concluded French EU-led compromise, Skopje must amend its constitution to include Bulgarians among recognized ethnic groups and “implement” a 2017 friendship treaty aimed at eradicating hate speech. .
Public consultation soon
North Macedonia has been called upon to review its school programs and open archives of communist police believed to show poor treatment of Bulgarians in the former Yugoslav republic. The question of language also remains highly sensitive, with Sofia considering the Macedonian language to be Bulgarian, while the two countries dispute historical events and figures, mainly derived from the Ottoman past.
The government in Skopje, whose resignation protesters have demanded, rejected an earlier French proposal in June, before indicating it was ready to accept another. Public consultations on its content were launched without delay.
However, according to local experts on European issues and opposition, the new draft agreement does not differ from the first one. Before that, North Macedonia’s path to the EU was already blocked by Greece over a dispute over its name, which is similar to a region in northern Greece. The country has been a member of NATO since 2020.
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