Bulgaria Welcomes Kosovo-Macedonia Border Agreement

Bulgaria has announced its support for the Kosovo-Macedonia border agreement that was signed late Saturday and rejected by Serbia soon after.

The Bulgarian Foreign Affairs Ministry said in an official statement on Tuesday that it supports the steps taken by Kosovo and Macedonia in signing a final agreement between Pristina and Skopje on the two countries’ borders.

"We appreciate these arrangements as an expression of the policy of good neighbourly relations, following which we have always thought as a key condition for EU and NATO integration of the Western Balkans," the Ministry added.

The statement concluded that Bulgaria welcomed the readiness of Kosovo and Macedonia to resolve such issues bilaterally, adding that this would benefit citizens of both countries.

Macedonia and Kosovo formally established diplomatic relations after their Parliaments approved late Saturday night the border dispute agreement of the two governments.

The Foreign Minsters of Kosovo and Macedonia, Skender Hiseni, and Antonio Milososki, issued a joint communique over the establishing of the diplomatic relations. The two states vowed to deepen their friendly relations based on the mutual recognition of their national and territorial integrity.

Kosovo, which declared its independence from Serbia on February 17, 2008, has been recognized by 62 countries so far. Macedonia recognized Kosovo’s independence on October 9, 2008, but the two countries failed to establish diplomatic relations immediately over a border dispute.