As Zoran Zaev claims that German Chancellor Angela Merkel promised that Germany will approve the opening of EU accession talks for Macedonia in September, the statement from the Bundeskanzleramt contains no such promise.

Merkel made no statement before or after her meeting with Zaev this morning, and the press release merely notes that the two discussed “foreign and European policy issues”.

Germany, along with France, set a goal to enhance the stability of the Balkan region. An important step in this regard was to resolve the “Macedonia” name issue. Under UN auspices this Balkan state renamed itself into North Macedonia on February 12th 2019, which put an end to the name issue with Greece, which lasted since 1991. In April, Prime Minister Zoran Zaev attended the Western Balkans meeting organized by German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron, the press release informs.

The press release doesn’t contain a pledge that Macedonia opens its accession talks in September, as Zaev claimed. His press service issued a rosy comment, similar to those a year ago when Zaev claimed that accession talks begin in the June of 2019.

The President of the Government of the “Republic of North Macedonia” Zaev, during his meeting, emphasized that he is happy that the German Foreign Ministry has a positive attitude toward our country with regard to the opening of EU accession talks and that all procedural steps and democratic processes are honored so that the Bundestag reaches a positive decision in September, Zaev’s Government said.