“It's a disgrace that a NATO country, Bulgaria, kidnaps two other NATO countries, namely Albania and North Macedonia, in the midst of a hot war in Europe's backyard with 26 other EU countries sitting still in a scary show of impotence.” That is how Albania’s Prime Minister Edi Rama, who is taking part in the EU-Western Balkans leaders’ meeting in Brussels, commented, for BNT, the events in Bulgaria which are blocking the European integration of North Macedonia, but also of Albania.

• Prime Minister Kiril Petkov is not going to announce a lifting of the veto on North Macedonia before the National Assembly has had its say on the matter

“You are a mess, you are a disgrace,” Edi Rama said, and added he was not expecting good news because “here we are – a new day in Europe, though not in Bulgaria”.