What protects us in the dispute with Bulgaria are principles, not just ours, but above all else European principles. They are our strongest argument in this dispute, Minister of Foreign Affairs Bujar Osmani told TV 24 on Thursday evening.

We try to argue those principles before Bulgaria and our friends. Justice is just one of the principles, but there are many principles that have protected the European idea for the last 75 years. In all the waves of EU enlargement, there have been attempts to impose bilateral issues, to slow down the process, but the bloc has always emerged stronger over those obstacles and has always succeeded. It did it based on respect for the principles, Osmani said.

He said that June is the option or December rather than August and September because in September the country will be holding election campaign again. In this analysis of all events, June seemed to him as the best opportunity, but what happened in Bulgaria, complicates that unique chance, Osmani said. He pointed out that for now the Portuguese proposal is on the table, which we assessed as a good basis together with European friends, but not Bulgaria. He believes that this is a proposal that addresses the sensitivities of all three parties.