It will be a historical mistake if the accession negotiations with North Macedonia and Albania don’t start now, but it is better at this moment that the two countries aren’t separated in their prospects, state the Bulgarian Vice Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Ekaterina Zaharieva.
She sent this message before the session of the European Council, that is taking place today and tomorrow, i.e. after it was previously decided in Luxemburg that the start of the negotiations with both countries will be postponed for autumn.
Zaharieva said that during this stage, Skopje and Tirana will not be separated regarding the perspectives of being granted a negotiation’s date and that there is a great probability that if North Macedonia and Tirana advance in their reforms, in October both countries will be granted a date for starting the negotiations.
-The good news is, at least to me, is that both countries aren’t separated in this stage, something that certain EU countries members wish but Bulgaria’s position is clear and it represents a strong support for EU’s enlargement with Western Balkan’s countries. I only see positive sides with the postponement. If it happened now both countries would have fewer chances to start together. That is our stance. We think it will be a historical mistake if both countries don’t start the negotiations now – said Zaharieva.
