Prime Minister of the Republic of North Macedonia Hristijan Mitskoski defined the future composition of the Bulgarian parliament as an “interesting political mosaic” and expressed hope that there will be a government in Bulgaria, that “there will not be an eighth election in a row” and that it will be possible to hold talks with the new Bulgarian government and find a “solution to unblock the path of (Northern) Macedonia to the EU”, reports BTA.
After inspecting the work on the Gostivar highway section – Bukoichani, part of transport Corridor 8, in response to a journalist's question, Mitkoski stated that in Bulgaria he expects a government formed by three political partners, which cannot exist without GERB-SDS and Continuing the change-Democratic Bulgaria, recalling that with GERB they are from a European political family - the European People's Party (EPP).
The parliamentary elections held yesterday in Bulgaria were closely watched in the Republic of North Macedonia. Politicians from the ruling coalition in the country have repeatedly indicated that they expect a political government to be formed in Bulgaria in order to hold talks related to the proposal of North Macedonia that the changes to the constitution enter into force after the country becomes a member of the EU. A condition for holding a second intergovernmental conference and opening the clusters from North Macedonia's negotiations with the EU is that the Bulgarians be included in the country's constitution.
According to the Minister of European Affairs, Orhan Murtezani, “the process must be initiated bilaterally with Bulgaria” and "until the elections in Bulgaria are over, the proposal of North Macedonia will not be presented”. Health Minister Arben Taravari believes that the country should start negotiations as quickly as possible, but "everything is complicated by the fact that there is no stable government in Bulgaria". The Prime Minister of the country, Hristijan Mickoski, has also repeatedly stated that he is ready for talks in order to find “a solution that will be a long-term solution and that will guarantee success in the negotiation process based on the Copenhagen criteria”, but although is prepared to talk with arguments “on the controversial issues between the two countries”, he does not believe that with an interim government there will be an opportunity for talks in order to find a way for North Macedonia to continue on its European path.
On Saturday, when asked who he would name as a better interlocutor - Boyko Borisov or Kiril Petkov, Mickoski stated that he could not name specifically, but VMRO-DPMNE is in the same political family with GERB headed by Boyko Borisov and it is logical that he wants a political party that originates from the EPP to win the elections in Bulgaria.
“GERB-SDS won the elections in Bulgaria”, “GERB again at the top: Borisov on the way to a fourth government”, “The Bulgarian parliament is even more fragmented than before - nine parties passed the electoral barrier”, “General 327 Bulgarian citizens in North Macedonia voted in yesterday's early elections, “Boyko Borisov won the elections in Bulgaria, will he be able to form a government?” “Elections in Bulgaria: The result is clear, the direction – no”, “GERB won, but is far from 121 deputies to form a government in Bulgaria”, are some of the headlines with which the media in North Macedonia inform about yesterday's vote for the Bulgarian parliament.