Minister Nikolay Milkov presented an update on the work of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs at the regular media briefing
06 April 2023 News
The Minister of Foreign Affairs Nikolay Milkov presented an update on the work of the department at a media briefing at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Participants were also Deputy Minister and Spokesman Kostadin Kodzhabashev and the Chairperson of the Working Group ‘Elections’ Permanent Secretary Ivan Kondov.
Minister Milkov briefed the media in detail on the coordination of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the holding of the early parliamentary elections abroad — a priority task of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and an activity that is large and labour-intensive in view of the Ministry's staffing. It was underlined that the elections abroad were held smoothly and without problems, with good organization and interaction between the Working Group ‘Elections’ of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Central Election Commission (CIK) and the Bulgarian communities on the ground.
Nikolay Milkov recalled that abroad our compatriots voted in 737 polling stations in 61 countries. The number of polling stations with voting machines was 245, and all the machines were delivered to the diplomatic and consular missions on time. In six polling stations there was a problem with the machines, in four cases it was a technical malfunction and in two cases the printing rollers ran out. According to the Minister, these are problems outside the competence of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Minister Nikolay Milkov recalled that with the assistance of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, more than 4,150 members of Section Election Commissions abroad had been appointed. Of these, 1,900 were representatives of political parties, 1,500 members of Bulgarian communities abroad, 737 or one in each section were appointed civil servants. There were also 1,600 alternate members. According to the Minister, this was a timely and necessary measure.
Our first diplomat appealed to the political parties to be responsible and to be the guarantors of the appointment of members to the sectional election commissions. According to him, failure to appoint more representatives to the electoral commissions could lead to the polling station not being able to function, which in turn could lead to the restriction of the electoral rights of Bulgarians.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs said that just over 185,000 Bulgarian citizens had voted abroad, a ‘certain increase’ in the elections compared to the previous vote. ‘The largest number of voters was in Türkiye, over 69,000 people,’ Milkov said. After Türkiye, there were the most voters in the UK, Northern Ireland, Germany and Spain.
Asked to comment on the statement of the President of the Republic of North Macedonia Stevo Pendarovski that Bulgaria's request to be part of the constitutional change process is scandalous, the minister said that for our country it is of the utmost importance to ensure equal rights for the Bulgarian people with the other peoples in the Republic of North Macedonia.
‘Bulgaria will not accept any wording that would give the Macedonian Bulgarians a status that is in any way different from that of any of the other constitutionally recognised parts of the peoples in the Republic of North Macedonia,’ Nikolay Milkov further stated.
The inclusion of the Bulgarians in the Republic of North Macedonia Constitution and Skopje's commitment to take measures to ensure effective access to equal rights, protection from discrimination and preservation of the culture and identity of the Bulgarians are spelled out in the minutes of the second meeting of the joint intergovernmental commission, which was signed on 17 July 2022. The Minister of Foreign Affairs regretted that there has been no progress on this issue since then. According to him, the issue has started to be the subject of ‘an internal debate’ related to the launch of a procedure to amend the Constitution of the Republic of North Macedonia.
Regarding the start of this process, the efforts of the Republic of North Macedonia to implement the commitments were welcomed, which, in the words of Minister Milkov, should lead to practical equality for Bulgarians there. ‘The successful completion of such a process would lead to the elevation of bilateral relations to a qualitatively new level and would give a positive impetus to the efforts of the Republic of North Macedonia to start negotiations for membership in the European Union,’ he further commented, pointing out that the process of amending the Constitution is an internal matter of the neighbouring country.
It was noted that there are a number of actions that could be described as attempts to raise the level of tension, which would narrow the possibility for a peaceful dialogue and atmosphere for these changes. ‘In the spirit of our experience so far, we would like to avoid scenarios where approaches and concrete decisions are agreed behind Bulgaria's back with EU member states so that pressure is then put on us or we are confronted with fait accompli’, Nikolay Milkov further commented.
Among the topics outlined at the briefing were also Minister Milkov's participation in the meeting of foreign ministers in the Bucharest B-9 format — a multilateral format for consultations on security issues of NATO Eastern flank countries, as well as in the meeting of foreign ministers of NATO member states in Brussels.
More photos
