Sofia, 8 November 2022 (MIA) – Foreign Minister Bujar Osmani said Tuesday he would recommend that the Government submits the recently adopted Law on Associations and Foundations to the Venice Commission, in order to determine if it contains anything contentious as per Bulgaria’s claims. FM Osmani, who held a joint press-conference with Bulgarian counterpart Nikolay Milkov in Sofia, stressed that the law was adopted in Parliament last week with the aim of swift responding and prevention of possible sabotage of the communities by third actors. “Because certain issues from the law are being deemed contentious, I will propose that the Government submits the law to the Venice Commission, so it can determine whether it contains anything contentious,” said Osmani. The FM stressed that the institutions and the Ministries of Foreign Affairs should be the ones leading the cooperation between the two countries and that it must not be allowed for others to lead the foreign policy of the countries and impose a different agenda. He added the culture and information centers in Skopje and Sofia are the proper way for cultural and social promotion, the way in which the two countries should communicate, exchange culture and do so in the spirit of goodneighborliness and friendship. “I deem this to be especially important, because certain topics have recently been abused to manipulate the emotions of the citizens, unpleasant events have been created with the end goal of kidnapping the efforts of both countries to improve goodneighborly relations. This is neither in the interest of North Macedonia nor Bulgaria. I would like to believe that together with my colleague Milkov we will do everything not to allow others to lead our foreign policy or others to create our bilateral relations. The two of us, together with the diplomats in our ministries, in the spirit of European values, will continue to build a European future for all our citizens. We should not forget that we are currently allies in NATO, future partners in the European Union, but above all, friends and good neighbours, and I expect our cooperation to develop accordingly,” said Osmani. When asked on whether the Macedonian culture club in Blagoevgrad will be opened, Osmani reiterated that the institutions and the Ministries of Foreign Affairs should be the ones leading the bilateral cooperation and that the proper way for the countries to strengthen their cooperation is through the culture and information centers in Skopje and Sofia. However, he added, the citizens still have a right to association on any basis, but it must be in the spirit of friendship, cooperation and goodneighborliness. On a question about the identity, Osmani said that is the most sensitive topic in North Macedonia. “It is the feeling that someone is challenging the uniqueness, the identity, the language. If we manage to remove this from the discourse in Bulgaria, and you cannot deny that such messages are coming from various actors in Bulgaria, so that the citizens of North Macedonia, the Macedonians feel the friendship and warmth from Bulgaria on these issues, then believe me all possibilities will be open, the entire field of cooperation, for the development of the activities of the Historical Commission, for the implementation of the cooperation agreement,” said FM Osmani. ad/ik/