Skopje, 3 May 2022 (MIA) – We were responsible to meet all the required conditions for the opening of negotiations with the EU all the while behaving in a constructive way in these talks even though the issues are not connected with each other. The ball is no longer in our court, it is in the court of Sofia and Brussels, Foreign Minister Bujar Osmani said Tuesday. Whether they will decide to demonstrate strategic leadership at this point, it is up to them to decide, he added. Osmani warned that delays in the country’s EU integration process have exhausted the energy in the country as well as the public support since a lot of energy is also needed to pursue further reforms and improve the economic conditions. “We will never give up on our ambition to join the EU. I believe we have been and we are an exemplary candidate country,” he told the news conference. Osmani vowed that the process for finding a solution will continue. “This is the message we’re sending to both the Republic of Bulgaria and the EU – the opportunity of the whole society being committed to this issue is slowly reducing. Now’s the time a decision to be made on the opening of negotiations, however we have nothing left to do,” the Minister stressed. According to Osmani, two processes are ongoing in parallel – the bilateral talks with Bulgaria under the 2017 Agreement and the adoption of the negotiating framework with the EU. “A this stage, there are still differences among the EU member states as regards what the negotiating framework should contain,” he said adding the country is yet to receive the draft document. “The member states have a clear position that bilateral issues shouldn’t be included in the negotiating framework. I oftentimes have told them that during this process we not only protect our interest but we also protect the EU by trying to keep the process active,” Osmani said. He said he hoped efforts will be intensified in the coming days by his country, Bulgaria and the 26 member states. “All sides in the process should be satisfied in order the process to be successful. These are the issues discussed right now,” FM Osmani said adding he cannot yet reveal the country’s positions presented during the negotiations.