EU summit LIVE: Panicked VDL scrambles to unite bloc as nations creak at seams

The EU summit, held in Slovenia on wednesday will aim to ease tensions between Bulgaria and Macedonia. 

In October 2019, Bulgaria said that it would block North Macedonia’s EU accession process if North Macedonia did not fulfil demands regarding what Bulgaria saw as “anti-Bulgarian ideology” in the country.

Bulgaria then offered a compromise in October 2020 and agreed to recognise the Macedonian language and Macedonian identity if North Macedonia recognised that historically, their roots were Bulgarian. 

Macedonia rejected this proposal and therefore, in November 2020  Bulgaria refused to approve the European Union’s negotiation framework for North Macedonia, essentially blocking the official start of accession talks with the country. 

It is hoped that today’s summit will help to resolve this ongoing dispute. 

source: express.co.uk