Brussels, 21 September 2021 (MIA) –  Gašper Dovžan, State Secretary at Slovenia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, who chaired the EU General Affairs Council (GAC) on Tuesday, said that EU ministers today discussed the EU’s credibility in the Western Balkans, MIA’s Brussels correspondent reported. Asked by MIA how the EU plans to strengthen its credibility in the region given the Bulgaria’s blockade of the opening of accession negotiations of North Macedonia, Dovžan said the EU ministers at today’s meeting didn’t discuss the issue in detail, but expressed hopes that the bilateral dispute will be settled so as to allow North Macedonia’s negotiating framework to be adopted. Bulgaria blocked the negotiating framework insisting that the term “misinterpretation of history” be included. It was met with opposition from several EU member countries in addition to North Macedonia. At the GAC, the Slovenian diplomat said, we cannot solve bilateral issues that hinder enlargement and the member countries shared views on the matter and on enlargement in general. According to him, a bulk of the issues will be opened at the forthcoming EU-Western Balkan Summit on October 6. Many issues will be discussed there, said Dovžan, noting, however, that it is not an “enlargement summit.” The summit will focus on how the EU helps and cooperates with the region and how to continue doing so successfully in relation to green transition, digitization, connectivity and youth, he said. Everyone in the EU hopes that the Sofia-Skopje dialogue will produce results, said the Slovenian State Secretary. “We all hope the Sofia-Skopje dialogue will produce a resolution allowing North Macedonia to move forward and see its negotiating framework being adopted,” stated Dovžan. Photo from MIA's archive