Skopje, 3 October 2023 (MIA) – If we stick to the negotiating framework, then there won’t be a need to think about any additional demands from anyone, because they are listed in that document, said Prime Minister Dimitar Kovachevski, speaking about Foreign Minister Bujar Osmani’s statement for Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ) that North Macedonia is the most harassed country in the EU enlargement process, and that he is certain that Bulgaria will continually formulate new demands.

Kovachevski said he is in constant communication with Osmani, and that the statement of the Foreign Minister is very clear, and not much different from other statements on the issue.

The PM stressed that the country has adopted a negotiating framework, which has been approved by the 27 EU member states.

“If we stick to the negotiating framework, then there won’t be a need to think about any additional demands from anyone, because they are listed in the negotiating framework. Of course, we have a bilateral agreement with Bulgaria, as we do with Greece, which are being realized on a bilateral level, and which are a part of the general provisions of the EU documents, not in the separate benchmarks and criteria which assess the country’s progress in line with the Copenhagen criteria,” said Kovachevski.

Kovachevski recalled the First Intergovernmental Conference and added that what remains to be done is a successful completion of the screening process, drafting of the documents that refer to the roadmaps for the rule of law, democracy, and the rights of ethnic minorities.

“In terms of the rights of minorities I think we are leaders in Europe, because if there is a country in which minority rights are protected and promoted both legally and institutionally, for which the Ohrid Framework Agreement serves as the basis, it is certainly our country,” said Kovachevski.