Sofia, January 10 (BTA) - January 10 (BTA) - A meeting of the Consultative Council on National Security (CCNS) has been underway in the President's Office for over four hours now on Monday, discussing the Bulgarian position on the enlargement of the EU into the Republic of North Macedonia and Albania. Participating are Prime Minister Kiril Petkov, representatives of the parliamentary groups, the Ministers of Finance, Assen Vassilev, of the Interior, Boyko Rashkov, of Defence, Stefan Yanev, and Deputy Foreign Minister Irena Dimitrova (sitting in for Foreign Minister Teodora Genchovska who is quarantined with COVID), as well as the leaders of the State Agency for National Security and the National Intelligence Agency.

Tens of supporters of the nationalist VMRO party gathered outside the President's Office calling for the participants in the CCNS meeting not to step down from the Bulgarian position regarding the start of EU accession talks with Skopje.

Sofia has consistently blocked the start of Republic of North Macedonia's EU accession talks, insisting that Skopje should first meet the conditions in its Goodneighbourliness Treaty with Bulgaria, which include abandoning hate speech against Bulgaria, the distortion of historical facts in textbooks and elsewhere and the discrimination against its citizens who identify themselves as Bulgarians.  

VMRO leader Krassimir Karakachanov told the rally that the Bulgarian history and national interests should not be ignored in the name of the economic interests of the Republic of North Macedonia. "VMRO is not against the EU membership of the Republic of North Macedonia and what we want is to make sure it observes good relations with Bulgaria and respects the rights of Bulgarians," he said. MORE/