Bulgaria’s parliament has confirmed Kiril Petkov as Prime Minister. In Parliament, 134 lawmakers voted in favor of Petkov, while 104 voted against.

This is the first regular government since the government of Prime Minister Boyko Borisov was ousted in April, amid public outrage over corruption. The day before, Petkov stated that Bulgaria would not take a stand against North Macedonia.

“The Bulgarian position remains as it is, but we want to improve it. We do not want to continue only with statements from both sides of the border, but we want to sit together, teams from different spheres, to work for good neighborliness. But at the same time we will protect the Bulgarian national interests,” Petkov said on Sunday.

As for Albania, Sofia has expressed its agreement to hold the First Intergovernmental Conference, but the journey for the two countries is conceived in bloc by the EU and if one burns, the other suffers as well.

The last opportunity for a decision on the enlargement process for 2021, are the two meetings that will take place on December 14 when the General Affairs Council convenes and on December 16-17 when the European Council convenes.

On the agenda of the meeting on December 14, one of the issues to be discussed is the development of the First EU-Albania Intergovernmental Conference. The meeting of the General Affairs Council precedes the meeting of the European Council, which will be held on 16 December 2021 with the presence of the Heads of Member States of the European Union.

Bulgaria, as an EU member state, has blocked the start of talks on North Macedonia’s membership in the European Union since November 2020. Sofia seeks agreement on the identity, language and historical differences between the two countries. Sofia insists that Skopje acknowledge that the Macedonian language and identity, before 1945, were of Bulgarian origin.

Skopje, but also Tirana, expect the elections in Bulgaria to be followed by a change of course to lift the veto that is holding hostage the holding of the first intergovernmental conference.

/Klara Ruci/