Bulgaria warns FYROM over NATO membership

If the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) wants to be a full member of NATO and the European Union, it must fulfill the commitments it has undertaken towards Bulgaria and Greece, Bulgarian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense Krasimir Karakachanov has said.

Speaking on Bulgaria’s Focus Radio, Karakachanov said that the friendship treaty signed with Bulgaria as well as the name deal reached with Greece stipulate the eradication of all irredentist claims – including false information contained in school textbooks over the past seven decades.

“Macedonia is hurrying to NATO because, like many Bulgarian politicians 20 years ago, they naively believe that joining NATO would nearly automatically solve all their problems,” Karakachanov was reported by Focus Information Agency as saying.

“The membership in NATO is an opportunity to solve one’s problems, but without one’s participation and willingness no one else can solve them – neither Brussels nor the NATO secretary general, nor any other member state, including Bulgaria,” he reportedly said.