Bulgarian Prime Minister Kiril Petkov is postponing his visit to Macedonia after he was exposed to the coronavirus during a national security council meeting dedicated precisely to Macedonia.

Petkov will go into isolation and Deputy Prime Minister Kalina Konstantinova will temporarily assume his duties. He was scheduled to come to Macedonia on January 18th, for a first official visit under what is expected to be a new SDSM – DUI led Government and to meet the likely future Prime Minister Dimitar Kovacevski. The meeting was hoped to bring in a breath of fresh air in the difficult historic dispute between the two countries which prompted Bulgaria to block Macedonia from opening its EU accession talks.