The Prime Minister of North Macedonia Zoran Zaev expects the new Bulgarian government to demonstrate leadership, responsibility and care for the Western Balkans and especially North Macedonia, MIA news agency reports.

However he reiterated that he will not negotiate on issues such as the Macedonian language and identity. The EU must keep its promise and hold the first inter-governmental conference to lay the beginning of membership negotiations, Zoran Zaev said, and added that his country had fulfilled all conditions for the opening of EU membership negotiations, but that Brussels’ reaction was unsatisfactory.