Schutz: Issues Should Be Resolved in Spirit of Good-neighbourliness

Director for the Balkan Region at the German Foreign Office Susanne Schutz says that all open issues between countries in the Balkan region should be resolved in the spirit of good-neighbourliness, including the open issues between Macedonia and Bulgaria. “The draft negotiating framework proposed by the European Commission on 1 July emphasises the commitment to good neighbourly relations and closer regional cooperation, as well as the importance of achieving tangible results and implementing bilateral agreements in good faith, including the Prespa Agreement with Greece and the Good-neighbourliness Agreement with Bulgaria. The formula agreed by then PM of North Macedonia Zoran Zaev and Bulgarian PM Boyko Borissov, according to which historical issues should be left to historians to deal with, is rather valid. Germany aims to finalise the negotiating frameworks and hold the first intergovernmental conference with North Macedonia during its Council Presidency. We want to maintain this positive dynamic. This means first and foremost continuing to lay the groundwork for accession talks with Albania and North Macedonia by finalising the negotiating frameworks. We will work hard with our partners in the EU and with North Macedonia and Albania towards achieving this goal,” Schutz said.