Member states of the Council of Europe

Ahead of an EU-Western Balkans Summit held here on Wednesday, Bulgarian President Rumen Radev reconfirmed his country's reluctance to greenlight Skopje's EU accession negotiations unless North Macedonia honours its commitments to address the moot points in bilateral relations.

If former Bulgarian PM Boyko Borissov's GERB party returns to power, it will restore friendship with North Macedonia based on the 2017 landmark friendship treaty between the two countries, and support its EU accession, Borrisov told the Bulgarian media on Tuesday.

Szentgotthard – Minister for Slovenians Abroad Helena Jaklitsch attended a traditional meeting of Slovenian sport organisations from the neighbouring countries in Hungary’s Szentgotthárd on Saturday. The minister emphasised the importance of sport in preserving the Slovenian identity in the neighbouring countries.

The 63rd round of the consultative talks between Turkey and Greece will take place in Ankara on Oct. 6, Foreign Ministry said in a written statement on Oct. 1.

The statement came on the same day when Turkey condemned a statement by Greece about the maritime jurisdiction regarding the Greek-French defense deal.

A pier on fire in Dubrovnik, Croatia during the war in November 1991. Photo: EPA/PETER NORTHALL.

As stated in the unsigned response of the Council of Europe to the question of the Slovenian MEP Klemen Groelj, the non-paper was not even discussed in that institution.

European Commissioner for Neighbourhood and Enlargement Oliver Varhelyi paid a one-day working visit to Bulgaria on Tuesday.

Rumors of a breakthrough in Turkish-Armenian relations have no basis in fact. Turkey and Armenia cannot undertake a normalization of their relations without including Azerbaijan. Stability and security in the South Caucasus require a three-way dialogue between Turkey-Armenia-Azerbaijan and for Armenia to give up its fantasies of a Greater Armenia.

Yesterday's meeting between Montenegrin President Milo Djukanovic and Croatian President Zoran Milanovic was described by Milivojevic as an attempt by the two presidents to achieve their political goals on the Serbian issue in the region.

Angela Merkel visited the Albanian capital Tirana on Tuesday, the last stop on a brief farewell Balkan tour which saw the German chancellor encourage the countries in the region to push ahead with reforms to improve their chances of joining the European Union.