Prespa Forum Dialogue: Zaev Describes Bulgaria’s Decision as Unprincipled

In the frames of the Prespa Forum Dialogue, PM Zoran Zaev said on Friday that the decision not to hold the first intergovernmental conference was a great disappointment for both Skopje and Tirana. He believes Bulgaria’s decision was unprincipled. Albanian PM Edi Rama was perhaps fiercer in his criticism of the EU, over the stalling of the Western Balkans’ integration process. Kosovan PM Albin Kurti, too, voiced dissatisfaction with the decision not to start negotiations. Austrian Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg believes that the Western Balkan countries should not wait for the integration because there are a lot of things they can do together. In his view, the EU has never been outside of that region. The Austrian politician’s stand is that it would be good for the US, too, to become part of the Berlin Process.