"Bulgaria to fully respect Kosovo status neutrality"

"Bulgaria to fully respect Kosovo status neutrality"

Bulgarians are currently trying to persuade all EU members that they will not interfere with status issues, and are seeking an appropriate formula, the newspaper added, and recalled that Spain was the first to declare disagreement with Kosovo being treated as a state at the conference, followed by Romania and Cyprus expressing their reservations towards the announced participation of Kosovo representatives.

"We are very aware of the importance the issue of the stance towards Kosovo has for (EU) members that have not recognized it, and we are working closely with them on that issue bilaterally and in other ways," said Chervenakova.

She stressed that Bulgaria's goal is for the summit to be organized for all 28 member states, that they are represented at the highest level, as well as to send a message of unity about EU integration of the Western Balkans, which is one of the priorities of the Bulgarian presidency.

The newspaper is also reporting that Bulgaria is now busy negotiating with Madrid to find an appropriate solution.

The article adds that Slovakia - another EU member that does not recognize unilaterally declared independence of Kosovo - is "considering the modalities of it participation."

"As things stand at the moment, provided that there is no unfavorable development of the situation, Prime Minister Peter Pellegrini should represent Slovakia at the summit in Sofia. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs will be represented by State Secretary Ivan Korcok. The modalities of our presence have not yet been considered," Peter Susko, a spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of that country, told the daily.