The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Bulgaria has published a list of commitments undertaken by the government of North Macedonia during a visit to Sofia on June 17. As per the statement, following a meeting between PM Zoran Zaev and his Bulgarian counterpart Stefan Janev, as well as Bulgarian President Rumen Radev, Skopje has agreed to fulfill these commitments:

• Specify at the UN that the name of the state refers only to the state as a political subject, and not to the geographical region “Northern Macedonia”, part of which is located within the sovereign borders of Bulgaria;
• withdraw its minority claims to Bulgaria;
• to start a process of rehabilitation of the victims of Yugoslav communism, repressed on its territory because of their Bulgarian self-consciousness;
• to adapt with Bulgaria the content of its curricula in order to objectively reflect our common history;
• removal of signs and inscriptions on the territory of the Republic of Northern Macedonia, instilling hatred against Bulgaria and the Bulgarians.

The Bulgarian Foreign Ministry underlined that a letter has been sent to Macedonia MFA, Bujar Osmani, laying out the country’s expectations that North Macedonia will deliver on its undertakings.

However, the claims set forth by Bulgaria have not been confirmed by the government of North Macedonia. The Prime Minister’s Office has not released any information on the proposals submitted by PM Zaev, nor on the commitments, it agreed to fulfill.

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