Bulgaria backs idea of EU sending special envoy to Macedonia
Bulgaria supports the idea of the European Union sending a special envoy to Macedonia to resolve the political crisis in the country, Foreign Minister Daniel Mitov said in a May 28 interview with public broadcaster Bulgarian National Radio.
Mitov said that the idea was a German initiative that Bulgaria had long supported.
Bulgaria, Germany and the Netherlands have argued for greater involvement of all the European institutions in Macedonia to resolve the political crisis in that country, which has endured for months and deepened over alleged large-scale illegal wiretapping and abuse of power by prime minister Nikola Gruevski’s administration.
Mitov said that sending an envoy is an attempt to find a means by which EU engagement in Macedonia could become more intensive.
Even if this did not happen, there are several special representatives, he said. “This does not mean that we will not look for other mechanisms to strengthen the European institutions in Skopje.”
Bulgarian diplomacy would be active in seeking to resolve the political crisis in Macedonia, Mitov said.
He said that it was essential to strengthen the presence of European foreign ministers and representatives – individually or in clusters of countries.
“There must be clarity about the reforms, which are consistent with the stated intention of Skopje’s EU membership. Lately we see a retreat from these reform intentions,” Mitov said.
