North Macedonia issue dominates Bulgarian debate — Yotova refuses to yield, Petkov threatens lawsuit

Relations with North Macedonia moved to the centre of Bulgaria's presidential campaign after Sunday’s televised debate, when candidate Iliana Yotova vowed she would not concede an inch of the agreed Bulgarian position and accused opponents of trying to sideline key protocols with Skopje.

Yotova told viewers that the Bulgarian stance in 2022 was rescued at the last moment by an intervention from the then-president, now prime minister Rumen Radev, and accused former prime minister Kiril Petkov of attempting to hand the position away.

Reactions from the camps

Iliana Yotova, candidate for president of Bulgaria, said: "In my face you see a person who will not yield even a centimetre of what was agreed. And despite Skopje making very serious attempts to set certain protocols aside. The foreign minister of your then government did not leave Mr. Radev's office, so that together we could all work on the French proposal, as indeed with many colleagues from the office of the French president, Mr. Macron. Mr. Petkov was with me in Skopje and I can say from first hand how he was a second away from selling the Bulgarian position."

Her main runoff opponent, Andrey Gyurov, a former caretaker prime minister and ex-chair of the parliamentary group of "We Continue the Change" during Petkov's tenure, defended the government’s record and argued that criticism of the 2022 approach has since evaporated now that the French framework enjoys broad support.

Andrey Gyurov, candidate for president of Bulgaria, said: "At that time we suffered many attacks and accusations that we were betraying Bulgarian interests. Now that we have the French agreement, post facto all parties and in the European Parliament, and now we hear also from Ms. Yotova, unreservedly support it and say that it is a good solution for Bulgaria. Facts. The facts are that now we have an agreement that everyone supports. Including those who attacked it then."

Former prime minister Kiril Petkov responded by announcing plans to sue, accusing Yotova of spreading falsehoods during the campaign and saying he has already consulted lawyers to prepare a legal complaint.

Kiril Petkov, former prime minister of Bulgaria, said: "During my government we managed for the Bulgarian position for North Macedonia to become the shared position of the whole European Union. Mrs. Yotova tried to present this indisputable Bulgarian success as national treason. This is a lie that can easily be proven."

Yotova also argued that bilateral relations failed to improve even after the signing of the good-neighbourliness agreement, citing hate speech and attacks against people of Bulgarian origin and naming the case of Hristijan Pendikov while not mentioning the case of Iva Mihaylova. The two leading candidates, Iliana Yotova and Andrey Gyurov, will meet in the presidential runoff on Sunday, 1 November.

Photo: press material from the event