Zoran Zaev

On Monday in Brussels, President Rumen Radev met with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa, said President Radev's Press Office.

The foreign ministers of Austria, the Czech Republic and Slovenia voiced unanimous support on Saturday for North Macedonia and Albania to start EU membership talks, arguing that bilateral issues should not block the EU's enlargement into the Western Balkans.

Skopje – Foreign minister of Slovenia, Austria and the Czech Republic, Anže Logar, Alexander Schallenberg and Jakub Kulhanek, expressed support to North Macedonia’s EU path at a working visit to the country on Saturday. Macedonian FM Bujar Osmani thanked for their support and called for EU accession talks to start as soon as possible.

North Macedonia's prime minister, Zoran Zaev, has warned the EU that it's taken a reputational hit in the Balkans and will lose more ground to rival powers if it doesn't start membership talks with his country and Albania soon.

According to Macedonian media, Zaev warned the EU that its reputation would "get a serious blow in the Balkans and lose its place in front of rival forces if it does not start membership negotiations with North Macedonia and Albania soon".

While EU Foreign Policy Chief Josep Borrell "practically corrected Varhelyi," said Malinka Ristovska of the European Policy Institute, EPI, a Skopje-based think tank, he offered nothing new on how the bloc proposed to get around Bulgaria's continuing veto threat.

Bulgaria's caretaker government led by Stefan Janev will not change Sofia's stance on blocking the start of EU negotiation for North Macedonia in a dispute over history, language and identity.

The news further diminishes the chances of a speedy breakthrough in bilateral talks before June, when the EU has pencilled in the official start of talks.

EU Enlargement Commissioner Olivér Várhelyi's proposal to press ahead with accession talks with Albania but exclude North Macedonia for now has sparked criticism in Austria, with Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg calling the move "absurd." Read more.

Prime Minister Zoran Zaev will meet today at EU Headquarters in Brussels with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, European Parliament President David Sassoli, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell, EC Executive Vice President Frans Timmermans and with EU Commissioner for Neighborhood Policy and Enlargement Oliver Varhei.

Germany and Slovakia have called for the EU to stick to the original plan of Albania and North Macedonia progressing towards eventual mem bership as part of one package.