Bulgarian expert: “North Macedonia is Russia’s Trojan horse to destabilize the EU”
Kirill Topalov, a member of the joint Bulgarian-Macedonian education commission, said that North Macedonia's dreams that the EU would force Bulgaria to give the go-ahead for the country to join the union will not come true.
Topalov said this on the Bulgarian National Radio, reports a PolitNavigator correspondent.
“It is clear to the European Union that this country has not moved a millimeter in terms of reforms from the totalitarian-communist model of governance that shaped North Macedonia in the former Yugoslavia,” Topalov said. “It is one of the least reformed republics of the former Yugoslavia.”
According to the expert, if the European Union puts pressure on Bulgaria on this issue, it will have catastrophic consequences for stability in the Balkans.
“This will be a Trojan horse for Russia and all the forces that want to destabilize the European Union,” Topalov said.
According to Topalov, in a conversation with Macedonian members of the Joint Commission on Education, designed to smooth out contradictions between the countries, he was able to understand the mentality of his neighbors - the population is not ready to change their attitude towards the Bulgarians.
Let us recall that last year, Bulgaria blocked the start of negotiations for North Macedonia's accession to the EU, blackmailing its neighbors with national and historical aspects: forcing them to renounce a language distinct from Bulgarian, common historical heroes, recognition of the existence of a Macedonian minority in Bulgaria, and public condemnation of Bulgarian fascism during World War II. It was the atrocities of the Bulgarian fascists that spurred the creation of a separate Macedonian people in Yugoslavia after 1945. These people, formerly Western Bulgarians, largely supported the anti-fascist resistance during the war.
Bulgarian expert: "North Macedonia is Russia's Trojan horse for destabilizing the EU"