A senior diplomatic source explained for MIA today that the French presidency wants to overcome the dispute between Bulgaria and North Macedonia and that it should respect the timeline set by Sofia, reports MIA correspondent from Brussels.
As to the question whether France wants and plans to hold the first intergovernmental conferences for the accession talks with North Macedonia and Albania, the diplomat explained that Paris has so far shown to be very active in unblocking the situation between Skopje and Sofia.
-Now, with the new Bulgarian government, it seems there is a path that can be defined. The government itself has said that several months will be needed, we must be put in this framework, but at the same time the government has opened a perspective and that can leave hope that results are possible before the end of this semester. This is what we will try to encourage in the role of a presidency, and it would be good news if the dossier of North Macedonia, and thus of Albania, would be unblocked, and for us to be able to apply the new methodology, stated this senior diplomat from the French presidency for MIA.
The diplomat reflected also on the wider situation of the Western Balkans. Namely, the French presidency plans to organize a Conference on the Western Balkans in June, as one of the priority regions for Paris and for the EU.
So far there are no details about the format and content of this Conference, but our interlocutor gave details that in any case it will not be the EU-Western Balkans Summit, as the Slovenian, Croatian and Bulgarian presidency have organized previously. Such summit will most likely be held in the second half of 2022.
-It will not be an enlargement conference, nor the regular EU-Western Balkans Summit, it will be a political conference, for now it is early to say, but what we are seeing in the region is at the same time political tensions as in Bosnia and Herzegovina now and processes that are not progressing, such as the case with the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue, says the diplomat for MIA.
He also outlined that the goal of the French presidency with this conference is to think about ways to support the processes in the region and to intercept the frustrations and risks.
-If the EU does not do so, it not only risks its security and stability, but also leaves space for other actors who do not care for the European security, it has a European obligation to be involved, said this senior diplomat source for MIA.
Translation: N. Cvetkovska
