The Foreign Minister of the Republic of North Macedonia Bujar Osmani stated that today’s vote by Bulgarian parliament for lifting the veto on his country is going to paralyze the goodneighbour agreement with Bulgaria.

• National Assembly approves French offer on EU accession negotiations with North Macedonia

“There are two words standing between the success and failure of the European Union in the region – the first is negotiating framework protocol, and the other is “opening” in paragraph 6 of the Council conclusions,” he posted on Facebook, in explanation of why the Republic of North Macedonia is rejecting the offer of the French Presidency of the EU.

Minister Osmani explains that putting an emphasis on these two issues will block the European process in the long term. “We had to turn down the offer for a negotiating framework precisely because of the sections in it, for which the Bulgarian side has demonstrated a lack of understanding without adducing any arguments,” The Foreign Minister of North Macedonia says.