Bulgaria PM at Odds with President and Partners over North Macedonia

Bulgarian Prime Minister Kiril Petkov ended a visit to the Bitola 2 electricity project in North Macedonia, on April 16, 2022. Photo: EPA-EFE/GEORGI LICOVSKI

"The future of our neighbours is so important that even the [ruling] coalition cannot decide on it solely. We need wider acceptance; everyone in the country should be in tune with the decision", he said on Monday in Rome, where he is expected to meet North Macedonia Prime Minister Dimitar Kovacevski this week.

"The abolition of the veto can become a fact only after the Foreign Ministry presents the latest results of how the dialogue is progressing," he added.

Petkov said he will rely on parliament to provide a clear signal on what consensus can be reached when the decision on the veto is put up for a vote. 

Differing views on the veto in the ruling bloc are creating more distance between the Prime Minister and President Radev while reigniting conflicts between the coalition parties.

The claim that Bulgaria is "betraying" its interests by allowing North Macedonia to start EU talks is increasingly popular with the nationalist electorate. 

Last Friday, "There's Such People", one of four parties in the coalition, threatened to leave the government if Bulgaria lifts the ban on its neighbour. 

Earlier in May, Slavi Trifonov, its leader, otherwise known as a singer and entertainer, criticised Petkov for single-handedly dealing with a number of issues, including the conflict with North Macedonia, without coordinating with the other parties.

"Everyone has realized that Petkov and his advisors are doing backstage scheming to sidestep Bulgaria's national interests," he said, about North Macedonia.

The leader of the pro-Russian Bulgarian Socialist Party,...