Athens is in favour of formally starting talks with North Macedonia and Albania to enter the EU as soon as possible, subject to their meeting membership criteria, said Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis during his visit to Sofia, AP reports.
“We expect the IGC (Inter-Governmental Conference) with North Macedonia, Albania to be scheduled as soon as possible,” said Mitsotakis, as reported by the North Macedonia new agency mia.mk.
“Greece supports the candidate countries, which must fulfil the criteria for EU membership, which include good neighbourliness, above all,” said Mitsotakis, as quoted by the Bulgarian agency bta.bg.
Bulgarian President Rumen Radev, after the meeting with the Greek PM, called for the inclusion of the Treaty on Friendship, Good Neighbourliness and Cooperation which Sofia and Skopje signed in 2017, as well as the Treaty of Prespa, signed between Athens and Skopje, to be included in the Republic of North Macedonia’s EU accession negotiations framework.
The EU was unfair not to open negotiations with North Macedonia because the country had done all it was required to start negotiating, Hungarian Foreign and Trade Minister Péter Szijjártó told a joint press conference in Skopje along with his counterpart from North Macedonia, Bujar Osmani.
“Respectfully, we ask our friends in Bulgaria to close the national issues the country considers an obstacle during the negotiations than hinder the start of the negotiations,” Szijjártó added.
