Envoys from Bulgaria, North Macedonia meet on EU bloc talks

SOFIA, Bulgaria (AP) — The foreign ministers of Bulgaria and North Macedonia have met in the Bulgarian capital of Sofia to discuss the next steps of North Macedonia’s path to EU membership talks. The talks Sunday came a day after the parliament in Skopje voted in support of a French proposal that should lift Bulgari’s veto of North Macedonia joining the bloc. EU member Bulgaria had until recently held up any progress for those accession talks, accusing North Macedonia’s government of disrespecting shared cultural, linguistic and historic ties. Bulgaria’s foreign minister said both countries agreed on “extremely ambitious short-term and long-term measures, which in practice aim to solve many of the open issues.”