Bulgarian Politician, TV Star, Proposes Deal for Removing Sofia's Veto on Membership Talks with North Macedonia

Skopje (North Macedonia) Photo by Pixabay

Bulgarian TV star Slavi Trifonov whose party There Are Such People, which is part of the ruling coalition, has come out with a deal based on which Sofia would lift its veto on starting EU membership talks with North Macedonia in exchange for lifting visa requirements for Bulgarians visiting the U.S. along with allowing the country to enter the Schengen zone.

This is the first attempt to use Bulgaria's veto as a bargaining chip by a Bulgarian political leader, although Trifonov said that this was his opinion as a citizen and not the leader of a ruling party.

That means, Euractiv Bulgaria reported on Jan. 4, that there is still no agreement among the coalition's partners on Trifonov's position. "Since the Americans want North Macedonia in the EU so much, let the citizens of Bulgaria and the the citizens of the majority of Union members, be allowed to travel to the U.S. without visas... Since we are a member of the EU, Bulgaria must immediately become a member of the Schengen zone," Trifonov wrote on Facebook.

Trifonov further wrote that loyalty was a two-way street - if the EU and U.S. want Bulgaria to be their loyal partner, then they should be loyal to Sofia. "Under these conditions and if the Macedonians... meet all of the conditions stipulated in the contract for friendship, good neighborly relations and cooperation between Bulgaria and North Macedonia, we can start the negotiating process for admitting North Macedonia into the EU," Trifonov concluded.