Bilateral meetings as part of the Berlin Process, as well as the days until the Council of the EU on the state of play of the enlargement process are a last attempt to reach an agreement between Skopje and Sofia in order to adopt the negotiating framework on November 17.
EU members see no reason to include North Macedonia on the agenda of the coming meeting in Brussels next Wednesday, unless progress is made at a bilateral level.
Meetings within the Berlin Process on Monday and Tuesday will be used as an attempt to bring positions closer, but the red lines between the two parties are diametrically opposed at this point.
The Bulgarian side firmly insists that North Macedonia accepts “Bulgarian roots” since before 1945, it doesn’t recognize the language and believes a special provision should be included in the negotiating process with the EU in relation to these issues, which would in fact prejudge the outcome of the negotiations themselves.
“These demands appear unacceptable for the Macedonian side, which seems to be ready for a compromise but not at any cost,” officials in Brussels say.
Bulgarian officials are also referring to their red lines, as well as the latest opinion polls in Bulgaria, where 80 percent of the citizens say negotiations with North Macedonia should be blocked if there’s no agreement on bilateral issues.
Other EU members believe North Macedonia’s negotiation process should not be “bilateralized.”
As Politico reports on Monday, there’s growing frustration in the EU over Sofia’s uncompromising stance, especially in Germany which holds the EU presidency until the end of the year and whose priority is to launch talks with Skopje.
Given that Albania hasn’t fulfilled all requirements yet, a Bulgarian blockade would bring failure to the EU enlargement policy again, seeing that in such case neither Skopje nor Tirana would start the negotiations this year.
Some diplomats also question the commitment of EU members to deal with Bulgarian pressure.
“The ultimate responsibility lies with Bulgaria,” according to sources in the EU, “but it’s up to the EU to show it holds to its principles.”
But, the game’s not over, Brussels officials tell MIA, and the optimism that differences will be overcome has not yet been buried.
“Although,” according to sources close to Sofia, “harsh statements that some officials address to Bulgaria “are not helping” to soften positions, especially since the country is entering election campaign.”
European affairs ministers will meet on November 17 and they are expected to discuss and most probably reach a decision on adopting the negotiating frameworks for Albania and North Macedonia. Until then, Skopje and Sofia have a week to overcome differences without crossing the red lines.
source: MIA
