EU foreign ministers to be briefed over name negotiations today

Macedonia and progress in the name talks will be on the agenda of a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels on Monday.

The Foreign Affairs Council meets several weeks prior to the European Council summit, when EU leaders are set to decide over the European Commission’s recommendation for the start of Macedonia and Albania’s accession talks.

EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini will brief ministers over the name talks, while FMs of Macedonia and Greece, Nikola Dimitrov and Nikos Kotzias respectively, are set to resume the negotiations in Brussels.

Bulgaria and Austria, the current and incoming EU Presidency holders, will also host a breakfast for European foreign ministers, MIA reports from Brussels.

FM Dimitrov, who met with High Representative Mogherini on Sunday, is scheduled to take part at the working breakfast.

During the visit to Brussels, Dimitrov will meet EU officials and several counterparts. In addition, he will deliver an address at the European Policy Centre themed “The Macedonian name dispute: a test for EU enlargement to the Balkans”.