Sofia has proposed an action plan for cooperation with North Macedonia in the implementation of the Treaty of Friendship, Good Neighbourliness and Cooperation, Bulgaria’s foreign ministry announced after Foreign Minister Ekaterina Zaharieva met in Sofia with North Macedonia’s special envoy, Vlado Buckovski, Brussels-based publication EURACTIV wrote in an article published on Tuesday.

This document, which affects all sectoral ministries, the article noted, is expected to be signed at an upcoming meeting of the Joint Intergovernmental Commission.

Diplomatic sources, EURACTIV added, explained that Sofia has proposals related to railways, highways, and investments of Bulgarian companies in North Macedonia.

The plan also concerns opening branch campuses of Bulgarian universities in North Macedonia, and history textbooks are also featured in the action plan.

Macedonian proposals by sectors are also to be presented, though the document – a practical application of the neighbourhood treaty – is yet to be approved by both countries, EURACTIV sources explained.

The proposed action plan is the first constructive act by the authorities in Sofia after Deputy Prime Minister Krassimir Karakachanov announced in September that the European perspective of North Macedonia should be blocked.