Bulgaria expects the government and parliament of the Republic of North Macedonia to implement soon all that is set out in the Negotiating Framework and the Treaty of Friendship, Good Neighbourliness and Cooperation, Bulgarian President Rumen Radev told his Macedonian counterpart. Presidents Rumen Radev and Gordana Siljanovska met on the sidelines of the UN Climate Change Conference (COP 29) in Baku.

During their meeting, Radev pointed out that one of the main problems was the need to address the existence of a Bulgarian minority in the North Macedonian constitution. Another problem, he said, was hate speech. President Radev expressed his hope that the government in Skopje would work with the state media on these issues. A good place to start would be schoolbooks, where there should be no texts that do not speak well of Bulgarian-North Macedonian relations.

"This can help build trust and I expect us to move in this direction, otherwise North Macedonia and especially its people are simply wasting historical time," the Bulgarian head of state stressed. He said that the constructive, pragmatic and open tone of dialogue that he and Gordana Siljanovska were setting should be adopted by the government of North Macedonia.