12/05/2021 (Agence Europe) – The new Bulgarian Foreign Minister, Svetlan Stoev, confirmed on Wednesday 12 May that the Bulgarian caretaker government would maintain his country’s vote on the opening of accession negotiations with North Macedonia (see EUROPE 12718/20). “Bulgaria’s framework position was accepted by consensus among all political parties in the Bulgarian Parliament. As an interim government, we have no authority to change that”, he explained. Mr Stoev added that he would do his utmost to maintain a dialogue with Skopje. “Everything is in the hands of the officials in North Macedonia. They know the Bulgarian position very well and should not speculate about any change in the next 2 or 3 months, while the interim government is in office”, added the foreign minister. (CG)