General Affairs Council

Foreign Minister George Gerapetritis had a telephone conversation with his Cypriot counterpart Constantinos Kombos on Saturday to brief him on the results of the Greece-Turkey High Council of Cooperation that took place in Athens on Thursday.

The two foreign ministers also discussed agenda items to be discussed at the upcoming councils to be held in Brussels.

Prime Minister Kiril Petkov has proposed that parliament resolve all issues on the topic with the Republic of North Macedonia, including whether or not to lift the veto for Skopje's talks with the European Union. This is one of the points that the Prime Minister proposed for a vote at the beginning of today's government session.

Bulgaria was forced to postpone its support for the start of negotiations for EU membership of the Republic of North Macedonia at the General Affairs Council meeting held on June 22, 2021.

Brussels – The Slovenian EU presidency will lead dialogue based on the European Commission’s second annual rule of law report, which will be released at the start of Slovenia’s six-month stint. The polemics over tying EU funds to respect for the rule of law will continue and it is not yet clear what will happen with proceedings against Poland and Hungary.

Facing pressure from EU members, the Bulgarian ambassador to the EU explained on Tuesday (11 May) to the EU ministers his country's decision to veto the start of neighbouring North Macedonia's accession negotiations.

On Tuesday, Secretary of State Iulia Matei participated in the informal meeting of ministers and state secretaries for European Affairs from EU member states, held in videoconference format, informs the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MAE).

The Council of Ministers approved today the position of the Republic of Bulgaria for participation in the European Council meeting, which will be held on April 23 through video conferencing, the Government Information Service has announced.

Interim Foreign Affairs Minister Bogdan Aurescu participated in Brussels on Tuesday in the meeting of the General Affairs Council (GAC), which tackled the enlargement of the European Union and the post-Brexit negotiations, a release of the Foreign Affairs Ministry (MAE) informed. The meeting agenda also included the preparations for the European Council of 26-27 March.

Diplomatic sources say that EU leaders struggled past midnight in a tense debate to reach common conclusions in a bland statement offering encouragement to the candidate countries, and yet postponing a formal decision for accession talks.

We reaffirm our strong support for a credible perspective on the accession of the Western Balkan countries and their future in the EU. We firmly believe that EU enlargement is a mutually beneficial process for both the EU and the Western Balkans, and is a strategic investment in the security, stability and prosperity of Europe.