Portuguese Minister of State for Foreign Affairs and the EU Commissioner for Neighbourhood and Enlargement visit Bulgaria and North Macedonia

Joint press release

Portuguese Presidency of the Council of the EU & European Commission

The Portuguese Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Augusto Santos Silva, on behalf of the Presidency of the Council of the European Union (EU), and the European Commissioner for Neighbourhood and Enlargement, Olivér Várhelyi i, will visit Bulgaria and North Macedonia on 21 May, to discuss topics related to the EU enlargement process with the authorities of both countries.

In the morning, they will be in Sofia to meet President Rumen Radev, as well as the Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the new government, while in the afternoon, in Skopje, they will meet President Stevo Pendarovski, as well as Prime Minister Zoran Zaev together with Deputy Prime Minister for European Affairs and the Minister for Foreign Affairs.

The official launch of the accession negotiations with Albania and North Macedonia is a key priority for the EU and the first Intergovernmental Conferences with both countries should be organised as soon as possible after the adoption of the Negotiating Frameworks by the Council