A missing Macedonian flag during a meeting between Bulgarian President Rumen Radev and his counterpart Gordana Siljanovska-Davkova raised tensions between Sofia and Skopje.
Leaked photos of Friday’s meeting between the two presidents sparked tensions in Skopje, as only Bulgarian and EU flags appeared at the presidential meeting, violating usual protocol.
The Prime Minister of North Macedonia, Hristijan Mickoski, accused Bulgaria of trying to “trample on Macedonian dignity.”
In the past, when Macedonian dignity was humiliated and sold, then they kept silent, turned their backs and were seduced by those who humiliated and trampled on us. Now things are resolved diplomatically, and protest notes are sent. When a red line is crossed, a response must be given. If you don’t react, the exception will become the practice.
On Monday, the North Macedonian Foreign Ministry summoned Bulgarian Ambassador Zhelyazko Radukov for an explanation. However, Radukov refused to attend the meeting.
The unofficial visit to Sofia and the meeting between the two presidents came after relations between the two countries were strained following the VMRO-DPMNE party’s rise to power in North Macedonia.
The party won the elections promising to lead North Macedonia towards EU membership, failing to fulfil a Bulgarian and EU condition to include Bulgarians as a minority in the country’s constitution.
