Portuguese Foreign Minister Augusto Santos Silva, whose country holds the rotating presidency of the EU Council for the current six months, and EU Enlargement Commissioner Oliver Varhei are visiting Skopje and Sofia today. The purpose of the visit is to persuade Bulgaria and Northern Macedonia to reach a compromise, which could allow Skopje to start accession negotiations with the EU.
The two EU officials will travel to Sofia this morning to meet with its President. Of Bulgaria Rumen Radev, caretaker Prime Minister Stefan Yanev and caretaker Foreign Minister Svetlan Stoev. In the afternoon, they will arrive in Skopje for meetings with Northern Macedonian President Stevo Pentarovski, Prime Minister Zoran Zaef and Foreign Minister Bujar Osmani.
The start of EU accession negotiations with Northern Macedonia and Albania and the issue of enlargement are high on the agenda of the Portuguese presidency.
The thorns in the relations between the two countries
The decision on whether or not to start EU accession negotiations with the two Balkan countries is expected to be taken by the EU General Affairs Council on 22 June.
In March 2020, EU countries agreed that Northern Macedonia could start accession negotiations with the Union. The formal start of accession talks was due to take place last December, but Bulgaria vetoed it, saying it could not currently support the start of accession talks between the 27 and Skopje due to various open language and historical differences. Bulgaria and Northern Macedonia.
In recent months, Sofia-Skopje relations have been severely tested, with both sides arguing strongly over issues of national identity and language.
Bulgaria demands from Northern Macedonia to recognize that the nation and its language have Bulgarian roots, something that Skopje shamefully rejects, accusing Sofia of behaving disparagingly and obstructing their European course, according to the Athenian-Macedonian News Agency correspondent.
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