Rumen Radev will raise the Bulgarian minority issue with the Council of Europe in Dublin
Radev will discuss the situation of Bulgarians in North Macedonia with Council of Europe Secretary General Alen Berset at the Dublin Summit of the European Political Community.
Rumen Radev announced that he will raise the situation of Bulgarians in North Macedonia with Alen Berset, Secretary General of the Council of Europe, during a meeting held on the margins of the Summit of the European Political Community in Dublin.
Radev said he sees no progress in how North Macedonian authorities have treated the Bulgarian community and indicated he will frame the issue “from the perspective of human rights, democracy and the rule of law.”
Context and limits of the forum
Although the Council of Europe focuses on protecting human rights, democratic standards and the rule of law, it is not an institution of the European Union and therefore does not have the authority to decide on opening or closing accession chapters in EU negotiations.
At the same time, constitutional amendments remain a formal precondition for the continuation of North Macedonia’s EU accession process, and their failure to pass was noted in the European Commission’s 2026 report.
By taking the matter to the Council of Europe, Sofia aims to keep the rights of the Bulgarian community on a broader European diplomatic agenda. However, raising the topic in that forum does not, by itself, create new formal obligations for North Macedonia in its EU accession talks.
Photo: press material from the event
