North Macedonia’s conservative prime minister has reacted angrily to reports that his country’s troubled European Union accession bid hit a new hurdle because of a dispute with neighboring EU member Bulgaria.

By Valentina Dimitrievska in Skopje Hungarian right-wing PM Viktor Orban, during his visit to North Macedonia, announced a plan aimed at resolving the ongoing dispute between Skopje and Sofia, aiming to unblock North Macedonia’s EU accession by the end of the year.

The EU executive is betting on its new €6-billion Growth Plan for the Western Balkans, under which it will inject investment into the seven Western Balkan candidate countries over the next three years in return for reforms designed to bring their economies and societies closer to the EU.