TIRANA, January 29 – The foreign minister of North Macedonia, Bujar Osmani, said in an interview for the Voice of America on Saturday that the early election campaign in Bulgaria and the political tensions in North Macedonia are the causes of the aggravation of relations between the two countries.
According to Osmani, the way to reduce tensions between Skopje and Sofia is only dialogue in order not to leave room for “political profiteers and provocateurs”. In his capacity as head of the OSCE, he also spoke about the challenges of the war in Ukraine, as well as the clashes within the Democratic Union for Integration, where he is a member.
Osmani said that the Bulgarian reaction related to the latest incident in Ohrid was disproportionate because the state has taken all the necessary measures to isolate that case and identify them, bring them to justice and punish the perpetrators. “I call for calmness. Now we need a reduction in tensions and a return to normal communication between the two states so that we don’t leave room for political profiteers and provocateurs exploiting it to build their political careers.”
Asked if he had communicated with Brussels after these clashes with Sofje, Osmani said that he had communicated and will be in Brussels in the next few days to meet with all EU leaders to discuss this issue, even though he goes there in another function.
In the meantime, Skopje’s top diplomat said a way must be found for the OSCE to be included in the function of stopping Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, but also of implementing what is called a comprehensive approach to security. In addition Osmani said that he thought that Russian propaganda has influence in North Macedonia. /Argumentum.al
