Zoran Zaev’s envoy to Bulgaria Vlado Buckovski expects that the dispute between the two countries will be overcome by the end of the year. In a statement for DW, Buckovski said that Bulgaria is currently tied up in its general election, which makes resolving the issue difficult.

I remain optimist by nature and I believe that by the end of my mandate, in December, we will resolve the outstanding issues. We are in a pre-election period in Bulgaria and therefore we are trying to be careful. My main engagement now is to work in the media realm, with universities, in the culture, Buckovski said.