Bulgaria has always sought to maintain goodneighbourly relations with Macedonia, Foreign
Minister Ivailo Kalfin said at Parliament's Question Time on Friday. He was answering a question about anti-Bulgarian acts in Skopje and about the Bulgarian government's position on Macedonia's bid for NATO and EU membership.

These relations form the basis of cooperation between the two countries. It is Bulgaria's lasting long-term policy to help its neighbours' economic development and support their wish to become integrated into the European and Euro-Atlantic structures, Kalfin said.

The official attitude to Bulgaria has varied from one period of Macedonia's governance to another, Kalfin said. He deplored that the attitude of the official Macedonian authorities had not always been in the best interest of Bulgarian-Macedonian relations.

Kalfin said the foundations for goodneighbourly relations were laid by a declaration signed in 1999, by which the two countries committed to take measures to prevent ill-intended propaganda by institutions and agencies.

"We recently signed a plan for cooperation in European and Euro-Atlantic integration, which
reaffirmed the declaration. We have been trying to explain not only to our Macedonian counterparts, but to Macedonian society as well, that exacerbating an anti-Bulgarian campaign is not in their interest," Kalfin said.

He said Bulgaria has a good dialogue with Macedonia's present government. The question of Macedonia's NATO membership is currently on the agenda and Bulgaria supports this process, Kalfin said. Circles in Macedonia outside the government that believe they can impair the country's relations with Bulgaria are dwindling.

"These are relapses and I hope that the Macedonian public is increasingly realizing how damaging such a position to Bulgaria is," Kalfin said.