Vigenin on North Macedonia: There will be no compromise on history or on the rights of Bulgarians

“We will not allow our common history with the Republic of North Macedonia to be stolen, nor will we back down, and we will insist that the rights of Bulgarians in Macedonia be guaranteed and respected. The Macedonian prime minister is creating a parallel reality and depriving the citizens of his country of their European future.” This was stated by the head of the Delegation of Bulgarian Socialists in the European Parliament and member of the BSP Executive Bureau Kristian Vigenin on the BNR programme “Sunday 150”.. ​ ​ ​ He noted that Bulgarian MEPs prevented the danger of the report on the progress of North Macedonia towards EU accession being hijacked. Vigenin said that with the attempt to bring in the topic of the Macedonian language and identity at the last moment, the rapporteurs themselves felt used by Mickoski for his domestic political propaganda. The MEP believes the tension around the report helped Bulgarian MEPs and institutions to explain our national position better.

“Bulgaria is a solid state and we should not fall into the provocative tone of insults that politicians in North Macedonia keep up. It is worth trying to speak not so much to those governing in North Macedonia as directly to the citizens of the country. We also need to put more effort into explaining our point of view to our partners in the European Union “, Vigenin also added. “There are causes we can unite behind. The National Assembly adopted a unanimous decision on North Macedonia, and this gave additional strength to our national Bulgarian position in the European Parliament, which helped us achieve our goal. When we are united, we succeed and we have more solid positions abroad as well,” the MEP emphasised.

The no-confidence votes

On the topic of the series of no-confidence votes against the government in Bulgaria, Kristian Vigenin commented thatthere are other ways to raise important topics: “No-confidence votes aim either to unite the opposition or to consolidate public energy behind an important problem. We see none of this in the ​ recent votes. The only thing they achieve , is to waste the time of parliament and to create political instability.” The MEP commented that topics such as judicial reform and economic development are not the subject of discussion, while they are very important for the country. “The introduction of the euro means we have to concentrate on action for a calmer and smoother transition with maximum benefit for citizens and the state”, he also recommended. Kristian Vigenin believes the governing parties can try to bring the opposition on board behind important national topics, so that there is more stability.