EU ambassadors met on Friday in a bid to overcome the deadlock but failed to persuade Bulgaria to back down, sparking frustration among EU diplomats who say Sofia holds up very important EU agenda for enlargement with an entirely domestic problem, which should be solved on a bilateral level with Macedonia, “Politico” wrote on Monday.

Bulgaria’s torture tactics may be effective in achieving results in Sofia’s underground, but they are utterly unacceptable at EU level, an EU diplomat told Politico.

According to “Politico”, if Bulgaria, isolated as it has been so far, continues with its uncompromising position, it will lose the goodwill it enjoys among member states.

The text reminds that the Bulgarian Foreign Ministry came out with the position that the current solution does not offer legal guarantees, as required by Bulgaria, regarding the disagreements with Macedonia.

Bulgaria has informed the EC that it cannot accept the offered negotiating framework for opening negotiations with Macedonia, Bulgarian Foreign Minister Ekaterina Zaharieva informed on Friday.

“Politico” says this violates the goal of the German presidency of the EU to continue the enlargement process this year, adding that Bulgaria and Macedonia have a dispute over history and language, with Sofia asking Skopje to recognize that the Macedonian nation and the Macedonian language have Bulgarian roots, as well as to renounce claims that there is a Macedonian minority in Bulgaria.