• Sunday, 07 July 2024

Bulgarian historian: N. Macedonia shows no preparedness to change

Bulgarian historian: N. Macedonia shows no preparedness to change
Sofia, 20 September 2022 (MIA) - There's no readiness for any change to be made whatsoever in North Macedonia, Angel Dimitrov, the co-chair of the Bulgaria-North Macedonia joint commission on historical and educational issues, has stated. Speaking BNT, the national Bulgarian broadcaster, he referred to the atmosphere in which the joint commission of experts worked at its last week's meeting in Skopje, BGNES news agency reports. According to Dimitrov, the media outlets mainly focused on the VMRO-DPMNE's demand for a referendum to revoke the Treaty with Bulgaria. "This atmosphere was the backdrop of our talks. I could clearly see the concern of some of my colleagues because some said they had been subjected to threats and pressure when they change something in their positions," Dimitrov said adding it clearly suggests what has been happening in Skopje. Citing a study by the German foundation Konrad Adenauer on the views of the citizens of North Macedonia, the Bulgarian historian said that his country is viewed as the biggest enemy by 44 percent of the respondents. "The people there who claim to have deep historical roots think only after 1944. They have no knowledge of what had happened in the first half of the past century, when the population there was declared Serbian, when there had been a terrorist regime and repression. It seems they are not at all interested in it, they only know of the propaganda and manipulation after 1944. Unfortunately, this propaganda is anti-Bulgarian," he stated. Although the Goce Delchev issue has been in the Commission's program for three years in a row, Dimitrov said, it is in fact not being discussed. "What it has been decided and announced is that their textbooks should be changed. A signal was sent that the Bulgarian side intents to implement the commission decisions by us having a meeting before arriving in Skopje with the Education Ministry officials, which approved what we had decided... What we need to see is reciprocal action, respect of the joint commission and serious changes to their textbook, now," the historian said. Political tensions in Skopje, according to Dimitrov, are due to the issue of "Bulgarisation". "It's very interesting that top politicians in the 1990s spoke of the end of 'de-Bulgarisation'. Now, they are afraid of Bulgarisation, which is absurd," he stated. The joint commission of experts met on September 14-15 in Skopje to discuss the history textbooks treating the medieval period and the possible joint observance of Goce Delchev.