Bulgaria supports the start of negotiations for Albania's accession to the European Union, as it has fulfilled most of the conditions. At the moment, however, our country cannot support the negotiating framework for EU membership of North Macedonia. This was what Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ekaterina Zaharieva said at a briefing at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs after today's videoconference meeting of the EU General Affairs Council, at which the topic "Enlargement" was discussed.

The reason for this is that the proposed project did not reflect the Bulgarian requirements, namely adherence to the language formula / "official language of the Republic of North Macedonia" and not "Macedonian" /, roadmap for the implementation of the Treaty of Friendship and Good Neighbor Relations between Bulgaria and North Macedonia from 2017 and the Prespa Agreement. An explicit text that claims for a Macedonian minority in Bulgaria will not be supported in any form, too. Minister Zaharieva pointed out that Bulgaria was open to negotiations, but this also required cooperation on the side of North Macedonia. She pointed out that the principles of good neighbor relations must be applied in practice, not just in texts.

Minister Zaharieva said she briefed her colleagues on the talks between Sofia and Skopje and thanked for the German presidency's efforts.