North Macedonia wants EU, NATO at its talks to settle row with Bulgaria

(Reuters) -North Macedonia wants to discuss with Bulgaria matters that block its path to European Union membership during next month's NATO summit and hopes top EU and NATO officials can also attend such a meeting, Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski said on Friday.

A NATO member, North Macedonia became an EU candidate in 2005 and opened membership negotiations in 2022, but talks have stalled due to objections from neighboring Bulgaria over history and language.

Bulgaria wants North Macedonia to recognise a Bulgarian minority in its constitution, which Mickoski's nationalist government has refused to do.

"We are ready to talk, to have bilateral talks at the level of partnership relations within the NATO alliance," Mickoski told a news conference in the capital of Skopje, held together with EU's top diplomat Kaja Kallas.

"Anyone who wants to assist, we are ready to talk to them," he said when asked if his government would accept outside mediation in the matter.

Kallas, who arrived in North Macedonia as part of her trip to the Western Balkans region, praised its hosts for aligning with the European common security and foreign policy and contributing to the regional security as part of the EU's peace force EUFOR in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

"My message today is to stay on the course and to take next steps necessary towards the opening of the negotiations," Kallas said.

Mickoski said the idea of the bilateral meeting with Bulgaria during the summit in The Hague has been discussed and agreed with Kallas, but he did not know if Sofia will accept the offer.

"We are ready to sit down and talk with anyone to accept certain mediation," he said. "We want a solution but the solution that will be dignified and long-lasting. We are tired of continuous blockages referring to the bilateral issues."

(Reporting by Daria Sito-Sucic; Editing by Tomasz Janowski)