Harsh criticism was made Wednesday by Prime Minister Edi Rama against Bulgaria, which is upholding its veto on the start of accession talks with North Macedonia, despite mounting pressure from the European Union.

In his speech during the 23rd edition of "Symi Symposium" in Athens, PM Rama said that in this case Bulgaria used local policy to block other Balkan countries, and this stance is the result of what it learned in the European Union from the “big fish”.

“The Bulgarian attitude is a result of what Bulgaria learned from the big ones within the EU. Bulgaria learned that you can use local politics to block others. I did not want to mention it, but you are not the only one in the Balkans, when we copy we go further than the original. We are hostages of EU nationalisms.

The path of integration of the Western Balkans is increasingly depending on EU nationalisms. When I talk about nationalism, I am talking about those important countries that hold leaders hostage, who are not yet nationalists and fall prey to these games of using the EC to squeeze the Balkan countries to show the muscle to their countries.

The EC has no cohesive decision. It is a place where games of non-nationalist leaders are played. Bulgaria is collateral damage in this respect”, noted the Albanian PM among other things.

On June 22, Vice President of the European Union and Secretary of State for European Affairs of Portugal, Ana Paula Zacarias confirmed that there will be no opening of accession negotiations for Albania and North Macedonia, and the date of the first intergovernmental conference (IGC) will be postponed.

Reason behind this stalemate on Albania’s and North Macedonia’s path to EU integration was the veto of Bulgaria. All countries were in favor of opening negotiations for Albania, even the most skeptical Netherlands gave its 'okay' for holding the first intergovernmental roundtable.

However, Bulgaria has been blocking the beginning of the accession talks between North Macedonia and the EU since November 2020 over disputes regarding language, ethnic minorities, and historical issues.

Bulgaria objects to the notion that the Macedonian language is separate from Bulgarian, insisting it is a “dialect”. Sofia also wants Skopje to recognise the “Bulgarian origins” of the Macedonian nation.