Portuguese Minister of State and Foreign Affairs, Augusto Santos Silva, on behalf of the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, and Commissioner for Neighbourhood and Enlargement, Olivér Várhelyi, will visit Bulgaria and North Macedonia on Friday, to discuss topics related to the EU enlargement process with the authorities of both countries.
In the morning, they will be in Sofia to meet President Rumen Radev, as well as the Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the new government, while in the afternoon, in Skopje, they will meet President Stevo Pendarovski, as well as Prime Minister Zoran Zaev together with Deputy Prime Minister and the Minister of Foreign Affairs, said the EU Delegation to Skopje.
PM Zaev said earlier in the week that the visit was planned ahead of the EU General Affairs Council on June 22, when a decision is to be taken on the adoption of the negotiating framework and the first intergovernmental conference (IGC) with North Macedonia, thus formally launching the accession negotiations.
If EU member-states reach an agreement by June 22 and provided North Macedonia approves the negotiating framework, the IGC could take place between June 22-30.
