North Macedonia's path to the EU must go through EU institutions and follow the rules already set, foreign minister Velislava Petrova said in a statement sent to the BTA news agency. The statement came in answer to a question after North Macedonia's foreign minister Timcho Mutsunski gave an interview to the state news agency MIA. The foreign ministry says Bulgaria backs the European Commission's work with every country negotiating membership and values what has been agreed in the European Council. Good relations between neighbours, the ministry says, are a key part of the path to the EU and a condition for making progress toward membership — and the base on which trust is built. Bulgaria has always been, and remains, open to talks with North Macedonia, the ministry says. A number of candidate countries have made real progress on their commitments despite the tough security situation. Bulgaria expects North Macedonia to meet its own commitments too and start the changes needed to keep moving on its European path. In the interview with MIA, Mutsunski said North Macedonia wants to keep moving toward the EU and get the chance to start membership talks. But the country is not ready to accept a compromise at any price. "That's why it matters to us that the EU takes part in every talk we hold with Bulgaria going forward. Whether that means individual member states or EU institutions being involved, it's important to have at least one more party in this process — that will help us start to build trust," Mutsunski said. He added that prime minister Hristijan Mickoski has said many times that there is now a deep lack of trust between Skopje and Sofia.