Sofia, 23 June 2022 (MIA) – The Bulgarian parliament’s foreign policy committee adopted Thursday the motion by Democratic Bulgaria (DB) party leader Hristo Ivanov regarding North Macedonia while rejecting the other two by GERB and DPS, MIA reports from Sofia. According to the DB motion, bilateral protocols of Article 12 of the Friendship Treaty should be incorporated in the negotiating framework, regarding the adoption of joint EU positions on the intergovernmental conferences. Namely, besides guarantees provided by the negotiating framework, Bulgaria can control the process through its participation in the Council. Former foreign minister and GERB MP Ekaterina Zaharieva proposed that the Bulgarian government approved the negotiating framework put forward by the French EU Presidency while setting conditions regarding the constitutional changes. “Approval of the framework does not mean that the Macedonian language is recognized,” noted Zaharieva. The National Assembly is set to discuss the three motions on Friday and adopt one of them, thus giving a mandate to Prime Minister Kiril Petkov to agree on the French Presidency proposal for the negotiating framework and the start of North Macedonia’s EU accession negotiations.