SOFIA, June 13 (Xinhua) -- Bulgaria on Wednesday welcomed the name change deal Macedonia reached with Greece, saying Macedonia's European path was in the interest of Bulgaria.
Ekaterina Zaharieva, Bulgaria's deputy prime minister and foreign minister, told reporters in the Parliament that she congratulated Macedonia and Greece on having reached an agreement on the long-standing dispute, which would open the door to Macedonia's European and Euro-Atlantic path.
Zaharieva said The friendship treaty between Bulgaria and Macedonia provided enough guarantees that there would be no territorial claims with the name "Republic of North Macedonia".
Yulian Angelov, MP of VMRO, which was a member of Bulgaria's power-sharing coalition of the United Patriots, told reporters in the Bulgarian National Assembly lobby, that a decades-old problem was now getting solved. The MP said when the countries surrounding Bulgaria were stable and free of problems, Bulgaria would be more successful and stable too.
Slovenian President Borut Pahor also on Wednesday hailed the deal between Skopje and Athens and the resolve demonstrated by both countries' leaders to find a solution acceptable for both sides.
Under the agreement between Athens and Skopje on Tuesday, the Balkan state known as "Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia" at the United Nations will henceforth be called the "Republic of North Macedonia." The accord requires ratification by the parliaments of both Macedonia and Greece and a referendum in Macedonia.
