Sofia---Bulgaria's prime minister expressed concern Friday about the ongoing power struggle in neighbouring Macedonia, urging the visiting Macedonian opposition leader Zoran Zaev to open dialogue with the government in Skopje.
"Without wanting to meddle in (Macedonia's) internal affairs, we are worried about the political crisis on our border," said Boyko Borisov during a joint news conference with Zaev in Sofia.
"We insist that the government and the opposition start talking to each other as required by Europe."
The situation in Macedonia has been unravelling for several months now, with Zaev's centre-left opposition accusing the conservative Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski of corruption and other wrongdoings.
The government, in return, has filed charges against Zaev for "spying" and attempts to "destabilise" the country. Both sides have held major street protests.
The crisis deepened earlier this month when 18 were killed in clashes in the northern town of Kumanovo between police and an ethnic Albanian armed group, whose members were mostly from Kosovo.
Stressing that "Macedonia's place is in the EU and NATO", Zaev said he counted on help from the European institutions to resolve his country's political crisis.
Bulgaria was the first country to recognise the Republic of Macedonia after it broke away from the former Yugoslavia in 1992, and backs the country's accession to the EU and NATO.
Sofia considers Macedonia's Slavic population as having Bulgarian roots and has so far granted Bulgarian passports to a total of 90,000 Macedonians, enabling them to travel and work in the EU.
AFP
