North Macedonian Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski called Bulgarian Foreign Minister Georg Georgiev a “mouse” and likened himself to a “lion”, BGNES reported on July 10.
His words came after Minister Georgiev said earlier today: “We managed to prevent the European Parliament from being used for Mickoski’s domestic political propaganda. The North Macedonian Prime Minister is obviously not excited about the positive development of his country, but is waging a battle of suggestions that are fruitless. Bulgaria is a strong country, Bulgaria is a factor both in the European Union and in the region, with which North Macedonia must comply – we are a member state of the EU, and North Macedonia is only a candidate for now.”
“I would not comment on this boy,” the Macedonian Prime Minister said in an insulting tone in response to the Bulgarian Foreign Minister.
“I said that this boy was sent to get my attention. I don’t think we should give him a chance and I appeal to you, the media. Leave this boy there. This is a government that someone else is running in the shadows. And they told him, they gave him a task, come on now, tease. This is like a mouse teasing a lion,” said Mickoski.
“Let me remind you that the attempt was a complete renaming of the Macedonian identity and language by some MEPs, who with their irresponsible behavior tried to further define them as “modern”. This did not work because the majority of MEPs read their intention. Unfortunately, the deletion of the Macedonian identity and language from the report itself succeeded. But what was already adopted by the European Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee worked. And what is even more important is that Europe, the world, the Macedonian citizens saw that the agreement reached in 2022, the acceptance of the then proposal, in essence, does not represent a simple change, an intervention in the preamble (of the constitution of North Macedonia) and the inclusion of the Bulgarian minority in it. The problem is much deeper, much more fundamental, namely the denial of the identity, of the language of one of the smallest peoples in Europe by its eastern neighbor, or neighboring Bulgaria. This is for me an unprecedented act, anything but a European value and I really cannot accept it. Will the MEPs who voted yesterday to delete the Macedonian identity and language from the report sleep peacefully? And I thank all those one hundred and twenty people who voted against, and those just over one hundred who abstained from any vote,” Mickoski said after attending the celebration of the 80th anniversary of the establishment of the Red Cross of North Macedonia.
According to him, expectations that he would abandon the negotiations with the EU in protest will not be realized.
“We, as a government, have an obligation to work even more dedicatedly on internal reforms, to stay focused and to articulate our arguments even more strongly until we become part of the European family. We will not make the mistakes of the past. We will not behave immaturely. We will prove that we are attractive, the best students in the class, and these architects will not be able to achieve their goals,” Mickoski added.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of North Macedonia demanded that Georg Georgiev apologize for his words.
“We strongly condemn the offensive statements made to the Prime Minister and institutions of the Republic of North Macedonia by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Bulgaria, Georg Georgiev. Such statements, which use inappropriate language and belittle representatives of a sovereign state, constitute a direct violation of the basic principles of international law and diplomatic communication. They do not contribute to the development of good-neighborly relations and contradict the spirit of constructive dialogue and mutual respect that should guide cooperation between the two countries. We expect official Sofia to issue a proper apology in order to preserve dignified and principled bilateral communication,” Skopje said.
The ministry, headed by Timcho Mutsunski, today summoned Bulgaria’s ambassador, Zhelyazko Radukov, to whom an official protest was delivered, and “the inappropriateness of such public discourse by a high-ranking official of the Bulgarian government” was indicated.
“The Bulgarian ambassador in Skopje expressed his surprise at the reason for his recall, especially against the backdrop of a series of hostile messages and actions coming from representatives of the authorities in Skopje in recent months. The Bulgarian diplomat explicitly emphasized that in the public sphere the official authorities of the Republic of North Macedonia systematically and purposefully demonstrate a lack of respect for our state,” the Bulgarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced.
Source: BGNES, BTA
Illustrative Photo by Valentin Cvetanoski: https://www.pexels.com/photo/scenic-view-of-ohrid-with-macedonian-flag-32937531/
