Missing flag at meeting sparks new row between Sofia and Skopje

A missing Macedonian flag during the meeting between Bulgarian President Rumen Radev and his counterpart Gordana Silyanovska-Davkova has triggered a new scandal and raised tensions between Sofia and Skopje on Monday.

Leaked photos of Friday's meeting between the two presidents sparked tension in Skopje as they are pictured in the Bulgarian presidential meeting, but only the Bulgarian and EU flag are on display, breaking the usual protocol.

The Prime Minister of North Macedonia, Hristijan Mickoski, then accused Bulgaria of trying to "trample on Macedonian dignity".

"In the past, when Macedonian dignity was humiliated and sold, then they kept silent, turned their backs and were seduced by those who humiliated and trampled on us. Now things are resolved diplomatically, and protest notes are sent. When a red line is crossed, a response must be given. If you don't react, the exception will become the practice," Mitkoski was quoted as saying by Bulgarian news agency BGNES.

Europe and the world should see "what the true intentions of the leadership in Sofia are,” North Macedonia’s leader added.

On Monday, North Macedonia's Foreign Ministry summoned Bulgarian Ambassador Zhelyazko Radukov for an explanation, Macedonian media reported.

Reportedly, Radukov refused the meeting.

After the meeting on Friday, Radev said that the dialogue between the two countries should be active at the highest level.

The unofficial visit to Sofia and the meeting between the two presidents came after relations between the two countries were strained after the right-wing nationalist party VMRO-DPMNE came to power in Skopje.

The VMRO-DPMNE won the elections on the promise that it would lead North Macedonia towards EU membership without fulfilling the Bulgarian and EU condition of listing Bulgarians as a minority in the country's constitution.

(Krassen Nikolov | Euractiv.bg)