Bulgaria and North Macedonia disagree over the conditions and timeframe for North Macedonia's EU accession, despite an agreement to maintain dialogue, following a bilateral meeting between Bulgarian Foreign Minister Velislava Petrova-Chamova and her peer from North Macedonia Timco Mucunski in Sofia on October 8.

The meeting took place on the sidelines of an international conference on Corridor VIII and was requested by the North Macedonian side, Petrova-Chamova said.

Bulgaria continues to support North Macedonia's European perspective, while maintaining that the conditions agreed in 2022 remain unchanged, Petrova-Chamova said. She asked Mucunski when Skopje expects to fulfil the commitments under the 2022 European consensus, including the constitutional changes required for the country to move forward in the EU accession process.

Petrova-Chamova said that while North Macedonia has argued that it needs time to build trust with Bulgaria, in her view trust is built by fulfilling agreed commitments. Bulgaria expects Skopje to implement both the constitutional amendments and the other elements of the 2022 agreement, she said.

Mucunski described the meeting as constructive and held in a positive atmosphere, but said the positions of the two sides remain significantly distant. He said there is a high level of mistrust regarding the predictability of the EU accession process, based on North Macedonia's experience with bilateral demands.

“Our greatest wish is for North Macedonia's path to the EU and full membership to be based on merit and not burdened by history or the past,” Mucunski said.

He stressed that North Macedonia is fully aligned with the EU's Common Foreign and Security Policy and has demonstrated through its results that it is a strong candidate for membership.

“We will do our part. We will be responsible and proactive in finding solutions, but the solution never depends solely on our side,” Mucunski said.

Both ministers agreed to continue communication despite their differences. Mucunski stressed that issues related to identity, history and culture should not become obstacles to North Macedonia's European path, while acknowledging that dialogue alone does not guarantee that differences will be resolved.

The meeting also took place against the backdrop of renewed efforts to advance Corridor VIII, which Bulgaria described as a strategic connectivity project linking the Western Balkans with the EU. Sofia said there is clear political will to accelerate work on the corridor.