The Bulgarian Presidency of the Council of the EU will propose, tomorrow, that Macedonia and Albania be invited for negotiations on joining the EU, Deputy Prime Minister Ekaterina Zaharieva told reporters from Bulgaria in Luxembourg.

Macedonia’s is better positioned than Albania, she added. Ekaterina Zaharieva stated that four out of five countries in the EU support the view that the invitation should be extended now. We still have work to do to convince some of the countries that are skeptical. Zaharieva added that even if tomorrow the Council of the EU supports the launch of enlargement negotiations, this does not automatically mean moving onto negotiations, as there is preparatory work to be done, such as, for example drafting the negotiating framework.