Skopje, 19 September 2024 (MIA) — North Macedonia's officials' vocabulary can be excused only if the transport minister resigns, otherwise Bulgaria's President, Prime Minister, government ministers and political parties should not talk to them anymore, according to GERB leader Boyko Borissov commenting on Deputy PM and Minister of Transport and Communications Aleksandar Nikoloski's Alfa TV appearance in which he said the absence of the Macedonian flag in a recent photo of President Gordana Siljanovska Davkova visiting President Rumen Radev was uncivilized and disrespectful.

Borissov, in response to reporters' questions Thursday, said the Macedonian government behaved despicably toward the Bulgarian President and the ministers who had met with them. He also said the country's government had been formed recently so maybe this is why they were not familiar with state protocol.

"I think they behaved despicably to the President, the ministers who met with them with the best intentions," Borissov said.

"Of course, they have been the government of North Macedonia only since recently, so matters of protocol are not clear to them," he said, adding that there were different protocols for official and unofficial meetings.

"Let's just say that they have no experience here. But the vocabulary they have used can be excused only by an apology and a resignation of that minister. If they don't do that, neither the President nor the Prime Minister, government ministers or any parties should meet and talk with them," Borissov said.

He also said Bulgaria needed to show stability and move forward, which had not been the case for seven subsequent parliamentary elections. "From the outside, Bulgaria looks terrible," Borissov said.

"The biggest newspapers in Europe wrote that Bulgaria is ungovernable," he added.

Speaking in the Bulgarian National Assembly, There is Such a People's Stanislav Balabanov also commented on Nikoloski's statement. Balabanov said that "the Republic of North Macedonia will not even get a ‘sniff’ of the EU until they fix their way of behaving, talking and honoring all elements of the agreements on good-neighborliness and cooperation."

According to Balabanov, "pretend-Euro-Atlantic-oriented" Borissov, together with Bulgarian politicians Delyan Peevski, Assen Vassilev, Kiril Petkov, and Hristo Ivanov should not be outraged now because they were the ones who had lifted the veto on North Macedonia's European Union bid, he said. mr/