Immediate decisions cannot be made to resolve the dispute between Bulgaria and the Republic of North Macedonia, because Bulgaria is facing parliamentary and presidential elections. This was stated by German Chancellor Angela Merkel after the end of the EU-Western Balkans summit in Slovenia.

"The next step that needs to be taken is to reach an agreement between the two countries so that Sofia can agree to launch an intergovernmental conference," the chancellor said, commenting on the start of negotiations for Skopje's EU accession. She pointed out that the issue was discussed during the forum in various formats, with the participation of Bulgarian President Rumen Radev, Macedonian Prime Minister Zoran Zaev and leading European politicians.

/BNR