Bulgarian government asks Parliament to ratify good-neighbourliness treaty with Macedonia
Bulgaria’s Cabinet, at a regular sitting on November 7, endorsed the treaty on good-neighbourly relations with the Republic of Macedonia and called on the National Assembly in Sofia to ratify the treaty.
The treaty was signed in Macedonia’s capital Skopje on August 1 by Bulgarian Prime Minister Boiko Borissov and his counterpart Zoran Zaev.
A Bulgarian media statement after the November 7 Cabinet meeting said that the treaty would bring tangible results in expanding transport and communications links between the two countries, and participation by them in using funds for regional infrastructure and cross-border projects, as well as facilitating people-to-people contacts on both sides.
Bulgaria was the first to recognise the Republic of Macedonia under the neighbouring former Yugoslav republic’s constitutional name in 1991.
Against a background of relations between the two countries being periodically vexed over the years, it has taken considerable effort and much time to finalise and sign the good-neighbourliness treaty.
In October, the opposition in Macedonia called for a national referendum on the ratification of the treaty with Bulgaria.
Among those that have welcomed the signing of the treaty between Bulgaria and Macedonia are the European Union, the United States and Nato.
In July, ahead of the signing, Bulgaria’s National Assembly unanimously adopted a resolution supporting the signing of the treaty.
Article 85 of the Bulgarian constitution requires Parliament to decide on the ratification of international treaties such as the one with Macedonia.
(Archive photo: Bulgarian PM Borissov and Macedonian PM Zaev)
