Ahead of Tuesday’s meeting of the European Affairs Ministers, Minister of State for Europe Michael Roth who chairs the meeting at which negotiating framework for North Macedonia was to be approved, said that Bulgaria’s’ blockade is “serious political mistake.”

“Regrettably, we have not managed to make progress on an issue which has already been agreed, and all due to bilateral demands of an EU member state,” Roth said commenting the Bulgaria’s veto on holding of the first intergovernmental conference with North Macedonia.

Due to the Bulgarian blockade of Skopje, Albania is also being held hostage, for which many member states believe that the negotiating framework cannot be adopted, and due to unfulfilled reforms and because of the fact that North Macedonia is advancing more.

German European Affairs Minister Michael Roth, whose country holds the EU’s rotating presidency, said that his country is doing all it can to end the standoff.

“Anything else would be a very severe political mistake at the expense of stability and security in the Western Balkans, and that ultimately would massively endanger the security of Europe as a whole,” Roth stated.