North Macedonia votes to end dispute with Bulgaria, clears way for EU talks
India Today
The path to European Union (EU) membership got a little clearer for North Macedonia as the country’s lawmakers passed a deal to settle their ongoing dispute with Bulgaria.
Lawmakers in North Macedonia on Saturday passed a French-brokered deal aimed at settling a dispute with Bulgaria and clearing the way to long-due European Union membership talks.
With 68 votes, the 120-seat parliament voted in favour of the agreement. Opposition lawmakers did not participate in the vote and left the room.
“Today we are opening a new perspective for our countryfrom today we are moving with accelerated steps to join the EU family,” Prime Minister Dimitar Kovacevski said in a press conference after his cabinet approved parliament’s conclusions.Kovacevski said the first meeting between his government and the EU would be held on Tuesday.
The deal proposes that North Macedonia's constitution be amended to recognise a Bulgarian minority. The proposal does not require Bulgaria to recognise the Macedonian language.
In exchange, Bulgaria will allow its West Balkan neighbour to start membership talks with the EU. After the agreement was adopted, governing party deputies rolled out EU and North Macedonian flags.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who travelled to Skopje and urged lawmakers on Thursday to vote on the deal, said the vote “paves the way for opening the accession negotiations rapidly.”
Albania’s Prime Minister Edi Rama, whose country has been held back because the EU has linked its progress to that of North Macedonia, said an Albanian delegation would travel to Brussels on Monday to start membership talks.
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