Bulgaria’s caretaker Minister of Foreign Affairs Svetlan Stoev has greeted the Republic of North Macedonia on the occasion of the 30^th anniversary of the declaration of its independence. In an address to North Macedonia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Bujar Osmani, Minister Svetlan Stoev noted that Bulgaria was the first country to recognize the independence of its neighbor. 

Minister Stoev recalled the big expectations in the beginning of the 1990’s that the political changes in the newly-recognized country will open up an opportunity to overcome the artificial divisions imposed on people on both sides of the border. Minister Stoev also voiced confidence that the full implementation in the spirit of good will by both countries of the 2017 Treaty of Friendship, Good Neighborliness and Cooperation may serve as a basis for more ambitious and genuine European relations between Bulgaria and the Republic of North Macedonia.