The European Parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee (AFET) has postponed the examination of the progress report on North Macedonia until 24 June at the insistence of rapporteur Thomas Waitz, BGNES reports.

On 27 May, the BGNES news agency first revealed that the EP was about to adopt a report on North Macedonia's progress towards the EU, which would contain recognition of the Macedonian identity and language in four places. This will be the second legislative body in Europe, after the German Bundestag, which on 15 June 2023 recognised the Macedonian identity and language with a resolution, without any reaction from the Bulgarian side.

In his brief statement today, the rapporteur said that the document he is drafting is not intended to investigate and analyse bilateral relations between Bulgaria and North Macedonia. He also said that he could not accept outside interference with regard to the conclusions of the report.

"Everybody knows that this report was the subject of heated political disputes. I fully stand by my report. All political groups were involved in the negotiations. The compromise amendments are supported by all of them. This is the EP's report as far as the readiness of North Macedonia for accession is concerned. The issue of minorities, along with the rule of law, are EU-wide issues," Waitz stressed.

This would have been the first time that the EP would recognise a language and identity that North Macedonian Prime Minister Hristjian Mickoski calls "centuries old". The recognition will be given with the next EP report on North Macedonia's progress towards the EU, due in July.

The recognition of language and identity came after the main rapporteur, Austrian Thomas Waitz of the Green Party, reached consensus with the other seven "shadow" rapporteurs representing political families in the EP.

The Green Party of rapporteur Thomas Waitz is a coalition partner with the European Free Alliance - EFA. The ESA represents the interests of minorities seeking regional autonomy, self-government or independence within the EU. Members of the ECA include the party OMO Ilinden - Pirin, banned in Bulgaria, and the Macedonian Alliance for European Integration in Albania - MAEI.

MAEI denies the existence of Bulgarians in Albania, although the last census in the country showed the existence of over 7,000 Albanians with Bulgarian identity.

The common position expressed by the Bulgarian MEPs in the Chamber was that the postponement was the right decision. The appeal of our representatives was to the rapporteur, Thomas Waitz, for the time until the new sitting on the subject is convened, so that the sensitive issues can be discussed again, as well as the circumstances surrounding the drafting of the report.

Andrei Kovachev (EPP), Ivaylo Valchev (ECR) and Stanislav Stoyanov (ESN) were present in the Chamber. | BGNES