Bulgaria Reiterates Support for Serbia, FYROM EU Entry Bids

Bulgaria has once again expressed its support for Serbia and Macedonia's bids to join the European Union.

Speaking in the Southwestern town of Blagoevgrad, Bulgarian Foreign Minister Nikolay Mladenov stated that no other country would benefit more from Serbia and Macedonia's EU accession than Bulgaria.

However, Mladenov noted that Bulgaria should openly express its issues with its neighboring countries, since it would be the only way for Bulgaria's national interests to be preserved.

Mladenov said that Bulgaria is concerned with the European Commission's progress report on Macedonia, since it has not included key issues such as the problems of the Bulgarian minority in the country.

"If we are placing borders on the Balkans, we are placing borders in front of ourselves. What we should do is create as many opportunities as possible for cooperation and exchange," he pointed out, as cited by dnevnik.bg.

Last week, the Bulgarian Foreign Minister expressed regret that there about a "trend" in Macedonia's bilateral relations with Bulgaria that is in conflict with the Bulgarian-Macedonian declaration signed in 1999 on the principles of good neighborliness, adding that it stems from "the interpretation of history in a highly nationalistic spirit" by Macedonia.