Bulgaria supports Macedonia as regards its Euro-Atlantic integration, but it expects reciprocal relations from Macedonia. This is the message that Bulgarian Prime Minister Sergey Stanishev conveyed on Monday following his meeting with Macedonian Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski in Skopje.

“I believe that the other side will respond with reciprocity to Bulgaria’s good relations,” Stanishev stressed.

The Bulgarian prime minister responded brazenly to the question on why OMO Ilinden-Pirin, organization of the Macedonians in Bulgaria, cannot register a political party in Bulgaria.

“If you think that anyone in Bulgaria is worried, from a political aspect, about the registration of OMO Ilinden-Pirin, you are mistaken. If this political party is registered in Bulgaria and if it participates at elections, it will achieve very poor results. The court in Bulgaria registers parties. I have the impression that the leaders of this organization do not want to fulfill the conditions necessary for registration, just so that they can be in the center of attention. They will not be interesting. Registration of this party is not a political problem. The Government does not interfere and will not interfere in the court’s decision. Bulgaria complied with the decisions of the European Court of Human Rights as regards the rights of these individuals,” Stanishev said.