Slovenian Secretary for European Affairs Gasper Dovzan said that his EU colleagues focused on enlargement and the dispute between Macedonia and Bulgaria during the meeting of the European Council today. The dispute is blocking the opening of EU accession talks for Macedonia, and by extension for Albania as well.

The credibility of the EU and of the enlargement process is on the line. The enlargement policy is one of the most successful policies in EU history, Dovzan said.

The next European Council is scheduled on December 14th, and it is highly unlikely that Bulgaria will have a functioning Government by then that would lift the veto. Macedonia hopes that other EU countries and the US could exert pressure on Bulgaria.