Mucunski: The Dialogue With Sofia Has the Support of European Institutions and Member States

Skopje – Foreign Minister Timco Mucunski said on November 6 that North Macedonia is working on a dialogue with Bulgaria and that it has the support of European institutions and member states. He made the statement at a joint press conference with the Swiss Foreign Minister and OSCE Chairperson-in-Office Ignazio Cassis, answering a journalist’s question.

“Regarding the question with Bulgaria, I think we said quite clearly that at the moment we are working on a dialogue,” Mucunski said. He added that “we have support from both European institutions and member states”.

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According to him, the Macedonian positions are clear and principled, and all current talks, as well as those of the past two years, are based on positions already presented to European partners. Mucunski did not say how long the dialogue would last or whether it has deadlines.

The statement answers the message of Enlargement Commissioner Marta Kos from November 4 in Brussels. She said the Commission does a lot for relations between the two countries, but does not say everything about it. According to what was relayed, Kos said North Macedonia must adopt the constitutional amendments agreed in 2022, which include minorities in the Constitution, to unblock the negotiations and open the first cluster, “Fundamentals”.

The Bulgarian side repeated the same position earlier. At the last meeting, on October 8 in Sofia, Bulgarian Foreign Minister Velislava Petrova-Chamova said Sofia supports North Macedonia’s European perspective and expects it to meet its obligations from 2022, including the constitutional amendments.

Three statements from three sides, on three dates, start from the same point. Kos asks for the adoption of the amendments, Petrova-Chamova expects the fulfilment of obligations, and Mucunski talks about a dialogue with EU support. By the editorial calculation, 29 days passed from the meeting in Sofia to Mucunski’s statement, and in that period the gap has not been publicly narrowed.

What is not clear: Mucunski in this statement did not mention the constitutional amendments, did not say what Skopje is offering and did not give a deadline. A Bulgarian reaction to his words has not been published.

No less important is what was not said. The condition for opening the first cluster is unchanged in the Commission’s report, and constitutional amendments need 80 of 120 MPs in the Assembly. The dialogue, therefore, is a political channel, not a replacement for that condition.

MKNews Hub · Macedonia · November 7, 2026