The Bundestag Thursday voted to support the accession of Northern Macedonia into the European Union.

Germany is firmly committed to the European perspective of the Balkan country and supports it on its way into the EU, said a joint motion by the ruling coalition approved by a majority on Thursday evening.

The former Yugoslav republic, which has 1.8 million inhabitants, has been a candidate for EU membership since 2005.

The EU has laid out a prerequisite for the start of accession negotiations, which involves North Macedonia amending its Constitution to recognize the Bulgarian minority in the country.