Bulgarian experience in the pre-accession negotiations and relations with the European Union (EU) will be utilised by Macedonia on its way to EU membership, Bulgaria’s European Affairs Minister Gergana Gruncharova and Macedonian deputy prime minister for European integration Gabriela Konevska–Trajkovska said on October 24, as quoted by the Macedonian Radio Television (MRT).

Sofia was to provide Skopje with expertise and advice on how to lead the negotiations with the Union, on how to apply for and spend the money from EU pre-accession funds and how to meet the criteria set by the European Commission for its regular screening reports, MRT said.

There was a great appreciation in Macedonia of Bulgaria’s political will and efforts to support its Western neighbour in its European integration process. The co-operation on a number of EU-related issues was to be seen in 2008, Konevska–Trajkovska said.

Gruncharova highly assessed Macedonia’s progress so far and said Bulgaria was the most desired partner for Macedonia, because of the two countries’ shared cultural, religious and historical values.

The EU was a tough match at the negotiating table and it was in Skopje’s interest to speed up reforms. Any delay in the process of reforms would slow the negotiations down and time was an important factor for Macedonia, Gruncharova said.