In a statement on Thursday the Bulgarian-Macedonian Friendship Club hailed progress in relations between Bulgaria and North Macedonia, achieved through the adoption of the French proposal for unblocking the start of EU accession negotiations.
“We congratulate our two governments and two parliaments on their political courage and hail the efforts of France and the European Union towards a solution. We are aware that this is only the beginning of a complex and multidimensional process which aims to win public support in both countries,” the statement says.
“We are convinced that this could only be achieved through active and full-bloodied communication at all levels between the two societies and the implementation of common goals with the efforts of all interested parties – the business, the non-governmental sector, academic institutions and the civil society. There is a lot of work to be done to create conditions for our relations not to be developed only at a high political level but start a positive conversation between all members of the public in both countries. Only in this way we can overcome the mutual lack of understanding which makes heroes in our relations only out of those who instill fear and hatred between us. These actors should be replaced by the people who connect us, by the people who cast bridges, connections and understanding and not by those who stoke hatred and revanchism,” the Club says.
The Bulgarian-Macedonian Friendship Club was set up on April 1 and has over 100 members. These include include writers Alek Popov and Chavdar Tsenov, university lecturers Alexander Kiossev, Ivaylo Ditchev and Maya Grekova, journalists Boyko Stankushev, Ivo Berov and Dimitar Kenarov, defence expert Velizar Shalamanov, economists Krassen Stanchev and Evgeni Kanev, tennis player Manuela Maleeva, historian Dragan Zajkovski and former Macedonian prime ministers Ljubco Georgievski and Vlado Buckovski.
