Following his return from the summit in Sofia, Zoran Zaev said that he hopes he will reach agreement with Bulgaria by Tuesday. Zaev held lengthy talks with Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov, who is blocking Macedonia from opening EU accession talks and demands major concessions on issues of national identity.

We will continue to work with Bulgaria until we find a winning solution for both of us. At this time we are not there yet but there are conditions in place to get there. The goal is that the two committees, the one on history and the one between the two Governments work to further clarify parts of the 2017 treaty and to fully implement its obligations. I hope to intensify efforts and that we try to reach an agreement before the 17th, Zaev said.

Bulgaria is holding back a decision on the common enlargement framework of the EU, which Macedonia hopes will be adopted as soon as possible so that the country could finally begin its accession talks this December.