Prime Minister Zoran Zaev assures that the country is doing everything to find a solution with Bulgaria and if it succeeds, immediately on June 23 it will hold its first intergovernmental conference with the EU. At the same time, Bulgarian President Rumen Radev said in Sofia that Bulgaria requires guarantees over Macedonia’s EU accession.

I believe we’ll all be smart and finally reach a solution to make progress. Portugal’s proposal is a good basis for finding a solution with Bulgaria. If we succeed, the first intergovernmental conference should be held on June 23, Prime Minister Zoran Zaev said on Wednesday.

The Portuguese presidency, said Zaev, surprisingly positively came up with an inventive and creative solution.

I do not want, he stressed, to raise expectations, and called on the EU, including Bulgaria, to deliver, because they owe it to us. He also said he was ready to go to Sofia and ask for a solution in a pragmatic way.

To ask for a solution on pragmatic grounds, knowing that no one wants to trample on our Macedonian language and Macedonian identity. That will be the case, but still we, the two friendly countries, must find a solution, said Zaev.

Bulgaria in 2018, said Zaev, convened EU Summit for the Western Balkans and we should ask Bulgaria to remain a leader in European integration in the Western Balkans, including Macedonia.