Deputy-PM Dimitrov, FM Osmani Assume Offices

Deputy-PM for European Affairs Nikola Dimitrov and Minister of Foreign Affairs Bujar Osmani held a joint press conference on Tuesday on occasion assuming their respective offices after the election of the new government. “The start of the membership negotiations with the EU will be one of our top priorities this year. The expectations of the German presidency with EU are that the first inter-governmental meeting between our country and the EU will take place this December,” Dimitrov said. Answering a question about the bilateral relations with Bulgaria and their effect over the EU integrations, Dimitrov and Osmani said they do not believe that official Sofia will obstruct the accession of Macedonia in EU. “Bulgaria played a big role in popularisation of the policies for enlargement of the EU during their presidency with the Union. The right of self-determination of the Macedonian citizens who speak Macedonian language in no way opposes the principles of the EU, hence we do not think that it will pose a problem. Overcoming of these issues will be a great challenge, but we already showed that we do not fear challenges,” Dimitrov said.