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© Associated Press
On the right of this photo is Bulgarian Foreign Minister Ekaterina Zaharieva, on the left German Heiko Maas.
North Macedonia’s Foreign Minister Bujar Osmani and his European Affairs counterpart Nikola Dimitrov are in Berlin at the invitation of German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas and for a meeting with the first Bulgarian diplomat, Ekaterina Zaharieva.
This was reported by BNT sources, previously announced by the Macedonian state agency MIA, Deutsche Welle and BGNES. The latter agency clarified that the Foreign Ministry in Sofia neither confirms nor denies and that according to its information, it is expected that Bulgaria’s “firm position” will be presented during this “discreet meeting”. However, the Skopje government confirmed to MIA about the talks.
The invitation from Maas and European Affairs Minister Michael Roth comes as Sofia hardens her tone towards Skopje and redefines the terms of the veto to schedule the first intergovernmental conference, a real start for negotiations with the EU.
North Macedonia and Bulgaria must resolve their differences by November 10, but Skopje said last week that it would not negotiate identity or make concessions, shortly after announcing the possibility of a special annex to the Neighborhood Agreement.
Deutsche Welle recalls that Berlin has stated several times in recent weeks that bilateral problems have no place in the EU integration talks and that Sofia and Skopje must solve the problem themselves.
