Skopje, 22 January 2022 (MIA) – The fresh impetus in the relations between Bulgaria and North Macedonia after the Bulgarian prime minister’s visit to Skopje is a good sign for the opening of accession negotiations with the EU. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has welcomed the dialogue established at prime ministerial level between the two countries. “Brussels strongly supports this process,” she told Prime Minister Dimitar Kovachevski in a phone call yesterday. A diplomatic source from the French EU presidency has told MIA that Kiril Petkov’s visit earlier this week is considered an opening between the two sides. The French EU presidency, the source said, wants concrete actions in order to be able to open membership negotiations with both North Macedonia and Albania as soon as the conditions have been met. The EU General Affairs Council will convene on Tuesday in Brussels, which brings together EU ministers for European affairs. Enlargement is not included in the agenda, the French EU presidency has confirmed, which chairs the meeting. France has reiterated it remains at disposal for the two sides to help them settle the dispute and find a solution. “From the very beginning we’ve said we will stimulate the process for finding a solution between Bulgaria and the Republic of North Macedonia,” the French diplomat has told MIA. German Minister of State for Europe Anna Lührmann has also expressed hopes that the country will start negotiating with the EU soon. In an interview with Deutsche Welle, she stressed that EU and Bulgaria should keep their promise to North Macedonia. The German Minister of State visited Skopje on Jan. 17 and was the first foreign diplomat to meet with new PM Kovachevski and several government officials. “It is a good signal that the new Macedonian and Bulgarian governments have made headway. I hope that the bilateral issues that exist in that bilateral format will be resolved soon. My visit was very important to me as well, because it happened immediately after the formation of the new government and it was the first meeting of the new Prime Minister of North Macedonia and it shows how good the relations are between North Macedonia and Germany, because the visit happened so soon,” Lührmann told DW. It is important, she added, that the talks with Bulgaria have started and that they take place in a bilateral format. Furthermore, President Stevo Pendarovski and his Bulgarian counterpart Rumen Radev held a phone call on Friday to discuss latest developments between the two neighboring countries in view of the Bulgarian prime minister’s Skopje visit as well as upcoming activities in Sofia. President Pendarovski welcomed the established dialogue between the two governments and stressed the readiness of the Republic of North Macedonia for its intensification in the coming period, his office said in a press release. Aimed at strengthening the dialogue between the two countries, the two presidents also discussed the possibility the President Pendarovski to pay an official visit to Sofia, as well as to enhance high-level communication in the upcoming period. After Bulgarian PM Kiril Petkov’s visit to Skopje, the government set up joint intergovernmental working groups on economy, trade and innovations, on infrastructure, transport and connectivity, on European integration and green policies, and on culture, science and education. The new governments in Skopje and Sofia expect the new approach to settling open issues to produce a positive outcome and open North Macedonia’s perspective to start accession talks with the EU.