Slovenian President Borut Pahor (L) and President of North Macedonia Stevo Pendarovski walk to attend a press conference in Skopje, North Macedonia, Sept. 25, 2020. Slovenian President Borut Pahor is on a two-day official visit to North Macedonia. (Photo by Tomislav Georgiev/Xinhua)
SKOPJE, Sept. 25 (Xinhua) -- Visiting Slovenian President Borut Pahor on Friday voiced his country's support for North Macedonia's European aspirations and urged the European Union (EU) not to delay the intergovernmental conference scheduled for the end of 2020.
On a two-day official visit to North Macedonia, Pahor met his host and counterpart, Stevo Pendarovski.
Pahor told reporters that delaying the intergovernmental conference with North Macedonia could be detrimental to the interests of the country and also of the region and the EU as a whole.
"In recent years, North Macedonia has done a lot to meet the EU's conditions," Pahor said, arguing against any further postponement of North Macedonia's EU accession talks.
Pendarovski said that, for now, Bulgaria has not officially requested a delay to the first intergovernmental conference between North Macedonia and the EU.
"I would like to see the EU negotiating process, which is taking place, finished," Pendarovski said. "I would not comment on the initial position of Bulgaria on the negotiations. We intend to open the channel of talks with Sofia during this period. I will wait for the next couple of weeks to see how the negotiating process will take place in Brussels. There are signs that compromise can be found on some points."
On Friday, Pahor also met with the Speaker of North Macedonia's parliament Talat Xhaferi.
