

Bulgarian PM Boyko Borissov (R) and his North Macedonia’s PM Zoran Zaev (C) attend a wreath laying ceremony at the grave of the Ottoman-era revolutionary Gotse Delchev (L) in Skopje in August 2019. Photo: EPA-EFE/GEORGI LICOVSKI



Historians, political science experts, clerics, journalists, sociologists, economists and other prominent intellectuals from Bulgaria and North Macedonia have expressed “disappointment and deep concern” about the document issued by the Bulgarian government listing its various demands of North Macedonia.

The intellectuals say its communist-style tone and stiff demands threaten to jeopardise recently improved relations between the two neighbouring countries. “We consider this return to the language of national communism absolutely unacceptable,” the declaration signed on social networks by more than 100 people says.

They spoke out after Bulgarian government and parliament on Thursday said Sofia would support giving North Macedonia and Albania a start date for EU accession negotiations at the European Council meeting slated for October 17. But at the same time, they adopted a “framework position” that lists more than 20 demands – and gives a timetable for North Macedonia to fulfil them – during the accession talks.

Most notably, Bulgaria insists that North Macedonia must give up any claim about the existence of a Macedonian minority in Bulgaria, must remove the term “Bulgarian Fascist Occupator” from all World War II memorials, start rooting out former Yugoslav secret police informants who allegedly harmed Bulgarians in Macedonia during the Yugoslav era, and settle on the nationality of Ottoman-era historic figures celebrated as heroes in both countries.

Bulgaria also advises the EU to avoid using the term “Macedonian language” during the accession talks, and instead use the term “Official language of Republic of North Macedonia”, so reiterating its claim that the Macedonia language is just a dialect of Bulgarian.

The intellectuals in their declaration note that some of the Bulgarian goals, including speeding up the work of the joint history and education commission, and doing more work to eliminate hate speech and find common ways to understand history, are acceptable.

But they say the overall tone of the document is “inadmissible” and that it contains “a number of worrying and problematic requirements”.

Their declaration says the history of both peoples from the Ottoman era until the end of World war II is much more complex than nationalists on both sides claim, and that theories that one side ”stole” the history of the other do not hold water and should be condemned.

“Present-day Bulgaria and present-day Northern Macedonia are equal heirs to centuries-old culture and civilization,” they say.

“The framework position also includes the naive understanding that there are easy and unambiguous answers to questions about the identity of all historical figures,” the declaration states, pointing out that it is impossible to classify some of these figures as exclusively Bulgarian or Macedonian.

The most worrying thing, the declaration states, is that the framework position embodies a kind of deep disrespect by Bulgaria for the political and cultural identity of the neighbouring country.

“Denying and downplaying the Macedonian culture that has been created in recent decades can only incite hatred for Bulgaria. In this way, the Bulgarian framework position, instead of strengthening our ties based on our common history, will become a new dividing line of suspicion and animosity,” the declaration warns.

North Macedonia’s top politicians have reacted calmly so far. Foreign Minister Nikola Dimitrov on Thursday merely said both countries should avoid setting conditions that are not in the spirit of good neighborly relations.

“With the friendship agreement [signed in 2017] we started a very important historic process of friendship and rapprochement. If we want it to succeed, there should be an understanding for the other. An understanding about shared history should go hand in hand with an understanding of the present and the future,” Dimitrov told Radio Free Europe.

“For us, our Macedonian identity is of essential importance – we are Macedonian people and speak the Macedonian language,” the minister continued.

Former foreign minister Denko Maleski also saw no point in reacting harshly. “The most important thing at this moment is that the Bulgarian government and parliament have supported the start of EU accession talks,” Maleski said, adding that both sides will have years during the actual EU accession talks to align their stances.