Thousands of Macedonians protest Macron’s proposals over EU rift with Bulgaria 

Thousands of demonstrators in the North Macedonian capital gathered on Saturday, July 3, to protest against a French proposal for solving the country’s dispute with Bulgaria that is blocking membership.

During the demonstration, protestors marched, chanted slogans and held banners in Skopje.

At the NATO summit in Spain, French President Emmanuel Macron says he believes a compromise has been found for North Macedonia for negotiations on EU membership.

In late 2020, Bulgaria refused to approve the EU’s negotiation framework for North Macedonia, saying it could not support the start of the bloc’s long-delayed accession negotiations with Skopje because of disputes over history and language.

Although Bulgaria was the first country to recognize North Macedonia as a state, there are debates over a shared history that cannot be shared. Discussions on the subject are left to the authority of experts.

-AA