Macedonia naming dispute

The provision included in the Prespes agreement that North Macedonia's name will be erga omnes - namely, to be used both domestically and internationally - could be undermined if the neighboring country's accession bid to the European Union is indefinitely postponed, according to legal experts.

Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte has come forward with a fresh initiative to revive the EU enlargement process after North Macedonia and Albania did not get a start date for EU accession talks at last week's European Council meeting due to opposition from France.

The EU's decision not to open accession negotiations with North Macedonia and Albania will have damaging consequences for the Western Balkans - and for the EU's transformative power in the region - analysts say.

Prime Minister Zoran Zaev said on Saturday that "swift snap elections" should be held "as soon as possible" after France refused to give up its opposition to giving North Macedonia a start date for EU membership talks.

Diplomatic sources say that EU leaders struggled past midnight in a tense debate to reach common conclusions in a bland statement offering encouragement to the candidate countries, and yet postponing a formal decision for accession talks.

EU Ministers for EU Affairs had to give green light today in Luxembourg to start the negotiation process with the two Balkan countries. However, Paris was strongly opposed.

Other countries such as the Netherlands and Denmark have demanded the separation of the two countries and the opening of negotiations with northern Macedonia only.

Next week, Northern Macedonia is expected to receive the green light to begin EU accession talks. This can only be done if all Member States agree. The government is about to discuss the Enlargement Package, which covers all of our country's conditions for northern Macedonia.

North Macedonia's Premier Zoran Zaev and SYRIZA leader Alexis Tsipras called on the European Union to set a date for the start of EU accession talks in October, during a meeting in Skopje on Monday afternoon.

,,A quick solution to the open issues with Bulgaria is possible'', the Prime Minister of Northern Macedonia Zoran Zaev said today, quoted by MIA.
He said the two countries had signed a treaty in which they accepted the fact of their common history. Zaev added that part of this story is individual for both parties, and he hopes the commission will find a solution.

Bulgaria supports the European perspective of Northern Macedonia, but our country must immediately develop a new position in which to link support for European Union membership to resolving controversial issues between Sofia and Skopje related to our common history. This is the result of a presidential consultation meeting.