North Macedonia’s Parliament speaker, Talat Xhaferi, will be meeting with floor leaders today to discuss the French proposal on overcoming the ongoing dispute with Bulgaria.
During these discussions, parliamentary group leaders will also determine when the next plenum will be held, during which the government will be informed of this proposal’s negotiating framework as it concerns the country’s accession to the EU.
Yesterday, political parties forwarded their messages regarding this matter. LDSM is in favor of the French proposal whereas VMRO-DPMNE is strongly against it. As a result, protests organized by the opposition continued through the weekend.
The incumbent Bulgarian PM Kiril Petkov gave an interview for the local press where he said that the French proposal is extremely positive for Sofia.
In addition, he said that he “understands that at the moment, for Skopje it could be very difficult to accept the proposed positions but in the end, it will have to choose the European way”.
Petkov also highlighted that it would be “terrible if Albania were to continue the process of EU accession without North Macedonia”.
The US ambassador to Skopje, Kate Marie Byrnes, was also in favor of the proposal through an open letter directed at Macedonian citizens, where she called on a massive acceptance in order to ultimately resolve the dispute with Bulgaria.
