(ANSA) - SOFIA, 17 NOV - Bulgaria has confirmed the block to negotiations with North Macedonia on its entry into the EU. "We approve the negotiating framework with Albania for its entry into the EU, as we believe that it has satisfied most of the conditions set. Bulgaria, however, at this stage, cannot approve the draft negotiating framework with the Republic of North Macedonia." Foreign Minister Ekaterina Zaharieva said on Sofia's position on the Enlargement issue on the table of today's EU General Affairs Council. On the sidelines, Zaharieva told reporters that "the proposed project does not reflect Bulgarian requests and cannot be taken into account in its current form." "Nobody can force us, including Brussels, to approve the negotiating framework without posing conditions to Skopje," Zaharieva said in an interview with Bulgarian public television BNT. According to the minister, Skopje does not respect the contents of the friendship and fair neighborly treaty signed in 2017 and continues to pursue a policy of hatred towards Bulgaria. An old disagreement over the historical past has flared up between Bulgaria and North Macedonia, with Sofia accusing Skopje of falsifying history, denying that the Macedonian language is a dialect of Bulgarian and that Gotse Delcev - historical figure disputed between the two countries - is a Bulgarian national hero and does not belong to Macedonia.

(ANSA).