Photo: prm.ua
North Macedonia sees danger from Russia in the Balkans
In recent months, tensions have escalated between Sofia and Skopje due to unresolved historical contradictions and issues of guaranteeing the cultural rights of Bulgarians in North Macedonia.
Commenting on the latest tensions with Bulgaria, North Macedonian Foreign Minister Buyar Osmani called Russia a “third party” interested in deepening this and other conflicts in the Balkans.
“There is an interest from third parties in supporting the once frozen conflicts in this region in order to be able to more easily exercise influence in our region, this has been known for a long time,” Osmani said in an interview with Radio Liberty.
He added that the latest escalation between North Macedonia and Bulgaria “will be welcomed by many third parties who will see an opportunity to maintain a permanent conflict in this region.”
In response to a clarifying question about which “third parties” he was talking about, the head of the North Macedonian Foreign Ministry named only the Russian Federation.
He noted that the Bulgarian side did not inform him of the reasons for the decision to recall the ambassador from Skopje earlier this week. But, according to him, if this is a reaction to the beating of the secretary of the pro-Bulgarian organization Christian Pendikov, he considers it “disproportionate”.
In recent months, as is known, tensions have increased between Sofia and Skopje in connection with unresolved historical contradictions and issues of guaranteeing the cultural rights of Bulgarians in North Macedonia.
