Skopje (Republic of North Macedonia) - (AFP) - North Macedonian Prime Minister Dimitar Kovačevski announced Saturday that a settlement has been reached with Bulgaria over their dispute over common history and language, allowing Skopje to begin negotiations to join the European Union .

"Finally, after 17 years, we will start the process of negotiations to join the European Union," Kovaczewski told reporters after a cabinet meeting.

Bulgaria, a member of the bloc, has until recently blocked any progress in such negotiations due to the long-standing dispute between the two countries over linguistic and historical issues.

But last month, the Bulgarian parliament agreed to lift the objection in return for guarantees from the European Union that North Macedonia would meet certain demands on the issues in question.