The main message conveyed by Sofia is that its officials are endorsing our initiatives in terms of forming working groups and settling certain issues that might have burdened us in the past, Foreign Minister Nikola Poposki stated Thursday commenting the letter sent by his Bulgarian counterpart Nickolay Mladenov.

Poposki said that the already-established communication "doesn't suggest that there is need Bulgaria to change its course with respect to supporting the European and Euro-Atlantic processes of Macedonia."

"I believe that the letter reiterates the fact that Bulgaria has always supported Macedonia in critical periods since declaring independence," Poposki noted.

Bulgaria, he added, has proposed that we raise the level of commitment and communication, not only through technical working groups, but also at governmental level.

"I don't think that any of that could be harmful. This approach could offer additional possibilities for mutual affirmation of Macedonia's EU integration," FM Poposki stated.

The first condition proposed by Mladenov in the letter in order Sofia to back Macedonia's EU integration is the signing of an agreement on good neighbourly relations and cooperation in line with the highest European standards and based on the 1999 Bilateral Declaration. The second step involves construction of a necessary infrastructure to boost the cooperation and establishment of joint working groups and the third is related to the formation of a high-level council in the form of annual inter-governmental meetings.

"It is extremely important that Bulgaria has acknowledged that the ideas presented in a letter in October lay a foundation for building good neighbourly relations in an European spirit," the Macedonian FM stressed.

The second equally important aspect, according to him, is that FM Mladenov would like our common commitment and vision to be confirmed by raising the level of working groups not only at technical level, but also at ministerial and governmental level. We have already proposed this.

"The third aspect is that they feel the need of acknowledging previous obligations stemming from bilateral ties, including the agreement signed last year with respect to cooperation in the EU integration process. I think that the two countries as well as the region have a lot to learn from such an approach. If we maintain the approach and work in this spirit, I'm sure we will lay foundation for cooperation in our region regarding EU integration," FM Poposki said.

On Thursday, the minister delivered a lecture before Macedonian students from the diaspora.