A new round of negotiations between Bulgaria and the Republic of North Macedonia is to be held by the end of October. This was announced by Bulgaria’s Foreign Minister Svetlan Stoev during a meeting with his Croatian counterpart Gordan Grlić Radman.

A protocol attached to the 2017 Friendship and Good Neighbour Agreement is to be discussed. A sitting of the joint commission on historical issues is planned to take place on 17 October, after the local elections in North Macedonia.

“We are monitoring the observance of the rights of Macedonian citizens with Bulgarian national identity very carefully,” Minister Stoev said. Minister Radman on his part pointed out that Zagreb supports the European integration of the countries of the Western Balkans, in strict observance of the Copenhagen criteria of good neighbourhood.