Bulgarian Government sources informed the local media that Vesela Cherneva, advisor to newly appointed Prime Minister Kiril Petkov, was in Macedonia a few days ago for a round of meetings.

Cherneva’s mission was likely part of the preparation for Petkov’s official visit to Macedonia, expected to come after the vote on the Government that new SDSM leader Dimitar Kovacevski is proposing. Petkov said that he wants to change the Bulgarian policy toward Macedonia and to expand the number of areas where the two countries are conducting negotiations beyond just history. He also initially announced a deadline of six months after which he indicated that the veto against Macedonia’s EU accession talks will be lifted, but later withdrew this statement.