Bulgaria to share tips with Macedonia on EU, NATO bids

(SOFIA) - Bulgarian Foreign Minister Nikolay Mladenov pledged Thursday to help Macedonia on its road to joining the European Union and NATO, by sharing Sofia's own lessons.

"We have a moral obligation to help all our neighbours to fulfill the criteria and join the EU and NATO," Mladenov said after talks in Sofia with his Macedonian counterpart Nikola Poposki.

Bulgaria, which joined NATO in 2005 and the EU in 2007, was the first country to recognise Macedonia's independence from the former Yugoslavia, he noted.

The two ministers signed a memorandum of cooperation Thursday to facilitate the "sharing of experience, both positive and negative, that Bulgaria acquired over the past years before and after its EU accession" and thus help Macedonia to quickly satisfy Brussels' requirements, Mladenov added.

The two ministers also agreed to meet more often to discuss European and bilateral ties, while Poposki expressed hopes for improved cooperation in the areas of economy and transport.

Macedonia was granted UN membership in 1993 under the name of Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, or FYROM, but a name dispute with neighbouring Greece has blocked the country from joining NATO and the EU, for which it has been a candidate since 2005.