Bulgaria on Tuesday rejected the negotiating framework for North Macedonia, which is a prerequisite for opening talks on the country's accession to the European Union.

“Bulgaria, at this stage, cannot back the draft of the negotiating framework with North Macedonia and the holding of the first intergovernmental conference,” Bulgarian Foreign Minister Ekaterina Zaharieva said on Tuesday, after an online meeting of EU foreign ministers.

The meeting was chaired by German Minister for European Affairs Michael Roth, who said that it was up to the two countries to settle their bilateral dispute before negotiations could start.

“We want to be helpful, we want to clear the path as much as possible, so that we can start on those intergovernmental conferences,” Roth said.

EU member states gave the green light for the opening of accession talks with North Macedonia and Albania in March. In order for the talks to start, the member states must unanimously adopt a negotiating framework, which is a condition for calling the first intergovernmental conference on accession.

Bulgaria insists that Macedonia acknowledges that Macedonians and their language have Bulgarian roots. Sofia wants the negotiating framework to reflect its views on the Macedonian identity, language and historical figures. It insists that claims about the existence of the Macedonian minority in Bulgaria are unfounded.

Attending the online meeting, Croatia’s Foreign and European Affairs Ministry’s State Secretary Andreja Metelko Zgombic said that Zagreb supported the adoption of the negotiating frameworks for North Macedonia and Albania and holding the first intergovernmental conference with those two aspirants until the end of Germany’s EU presidency.