site.btaAssociation of the Descendants of Refugees and Migrants from the Territory of the Republic of North Macedonia and friends: Address to the Presidents of Slovenia and Croatia

TO THE PRESIDENT OF SLOVENIA 

MS NATASA PIRC-MUSAR

TO THE PRESIDENT OF CROATIA

MR ZORAN MILANOVIC

TO THE EMBASSIES OF CROATIA AND SLOVENIA IN SOFIA

A COPY TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF BULGARIA, THE PRESIDENT OF THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY, THE PRIME MINISTER AND THE MASS MEDIA

Subject: Claim of the President of the Republic of North Macedonia, Mr Stevo Pendarovski that the long-standing unresolved internal problems in his country constitute a bilateral dispute with Bulgaria.

DEAR MS PIRC MUSAR,

DEAR MR MILANOVIC,

During your joint press conference in Skopje on September 11, 2023, your colleague Mr Stevo Pendarovski, President of the Republic of North Macedonia, stated that ‘if the countries of the Western Balkans insist first on resolving bilateral disputes, then none will enter the EU...because the bilateral dispute with Bulgaria takes up the entire traditional accession agenda’. We would like to draw your attention to the fact that with this statement Mr Pendarovski is actually openly stating that the Republic of North Macedonia will not enter the EU because it has no intention of resolving the so-called ‘bilateral dispute’. Mr Pendarovski's statement is solely in the interest of third countries, whose goal for decades has been to erode the democratic processes in North Macedonia and destabilize the countries of the Western Balkans.

Our association was created by individuals originating from the group of over 400,000 Bulgarian citizens, descendants of refugees or migrants from the territory of today's Republic of North Macedonia, who are part of about 1.3 million Bulgarian citizens who independently report their origin being from the geographical area of Macedonia. We are closely monitoring the ongoing processes there and believe that in this essentially anti-Macedonian thesis, Mr. Pendarovski resorts to a number of manipulations.

If Skopje ever had a bilateral dispute with another country, it was with Greece because of the Greek authorities' independent use of the name of ‘Macedonia’. This bilateral dispute lasted 28 years, during which time Greece imposed an economic embargo on the country (1994–1995), required the use of the provisional name of ‘Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia’ and vetoed its NATO membership. Only after Skopje in the Prespa Agreement (2018) agreed to add the definition of ‘North’ to the name of the country, was this bilateral dispute resolved.

This is not the case with the need to amend the Constitution of North Macedonia, in accordance with the country's commitments arising from the so-called French proposal of July 2022. Unfortunately, Mr Pendarovski is once again trying to conceal the essence of the traditional problems in his country by manipulating public opinion and the international community.

Therefore, as an organization which expresses the interests of that part of the population which is connected to North Macedonia, we would like to draw your attention to the fact that the ‘bilateral dispute’ with Bulgaria referred to by Mr Pendarovski is actually much older. It began in the autumn of 1944 as an internal Macedonian matter and was expressed in the large-scale opposition between the traditional Bulgarian identity and the new Serbo-Macedonian (Serbo-communist) identity imposed by the Yugoslav government. The scale of the anti-Bulgarian repressions can be judged from a 1949 summary of the former Department for the Protection of the People (ONZA), which in 1946 became part of the the State Security Administration (UDBA). This report equated ‘Greater Bulgarianism’ with ‘Vancho-Mihaylovism’ [after the ideas of Ivan Mihaylov]. The document says that ‘counter-revolutionary remnants in Macedonia have begun to create illegal organizations, to associate with the remnants of armed Mihaylovist... bands and to prepare the creation of new rebel groups. They are trying to create illegal organizations in the ranks of the People's Liberation Army through the Mihaylovist Greater Bulgarian agents serving in the Gotse Delchev Brigade… The authorities of the OZNA, by thwarting the attempted revolt in the artillery brigade in Skopje and in the infantry regiment in Shtip, by liquidating... the Vancho-Mihaylovist terrorist organizations led by Dr Chulev, and then Trenchev and Terziev, ...dealt decisive blows to the counter-revolutionary and open attempts to overthrow the people's power in the Republic of Macedonia, ...which essentially means ... the separation of Macedonia from the fraternal community of the Yugoslav peoples and the transformation of Macedonia into a protectorate of England and America... With the direct help of comrade Lazar Kolishevski, the authorities of the OZNA managed to uncover the entire conspiratorial network in other parts of the People's Liberation Army in Macedonia, in which these Great Bulgarian Vanchovist elements were also preparing riots... The Terziev-Trenchev group was preparing a memorandum to the United Nations in which it insisted on the creation of a ‘United Macedonia’ under the protection of England and America.’

Cooperation between Macedonian Bulgarians, Croats and Slovenes aimed at their liberation from the rule of Belgrade began in the 1920’s. Their new suffering under the Serbian Communist regime once again intensified the solidarity between them. In 1950, at the 29th Congress of the Macedonian Patriotic Organization in the United States and Canada, which was held in Gary, Indiana, the Croats, Kruno Pandzic and Berto Dragicevic, and the Slovenian, Mirko Geretic, editor of the émigré newspaper of Slovene State, attended as guests. It was at this time that the foundations of the new common struggle of the oppressed peoples in Communist Yugoslavia were laid.

The results were not late in coming and on November 5, 1950, a protest gathering of Slovenes, Croats and Macedonian Bulgarians was held in Chicago. The Macedonian speaker at this event was Metodi Chanev. He stated that ‘a regime led by dictator Tito has intruded in Yugoslavia, which bears not the slightest trace of true democracy… Especially in Macedonia, Tito's regime was not very different from the regime of the Serbian royal dynasties. Although Macedonia was declared as one of the six federal republics of Yugoslavia, the orders for its constitution came from Belgrade. Moreover, Tito's government ordered a new language called ‘Macedonian’ to be taught in schools. This language… is mixed with many Serbian words foreign to the local population. The goal is to Serbianize the Macedonian Bulgarians by other means… We do not recognize today's Yugoslavia. "

At this council, the three oppressed groups adopted a memorandum addressed to the international community stating that the goal of the policy pursued by Belgrade was ‘to Serbianize the Macedonian population which for centuries, according to the admissions of all prominent philologists, has spoken only Bulgarian. The Communist rulers have denied the thousand-year culture and education of the Macedonian Bulgarians.’

During the ensuing period, various forms of interaction were observed, and one of the highest points in the cooperation between the Macedonian Bulgarians and Croats was the declaration on the situation in Yugoslavia, which on 27 March 1969 was presented to the Secretary-General of the United Nations, U Thant. The document was signed on behalf of the Croatian Liberation Movement, by Dr Stepan Hefer, and for the Macedonian Liberation Movement by Ivan Mihaylov. A mixed delegation was set up, including Stepan Hefer, Ante Bonifacic, Otto Negovetic and Anton Nesic on the Croatian side, and Petar Atsev, Hristo Atanasov and Blagoj Markov on the part of the Macedonian Bulgarians.

The document regarding the population in Macedonia stated as follows: ‘Although geographically related to their brothers in the Bulgarian state, the Macedonian Bulgarians during their nearly seven decades of struggles for liberation declare that in the name of Balkan peace and harmony, they are making a sacrifice by accepting the creation of an independent Macedonia, organized according to the example of Switzerland, with equal civil rights of all nationalities living in the country – Bulgarians, Turks, Greeks, Romanians, Albanians, etc... In the Yugoslav state there are a number of well-established historical, ethnographic and culturally distinct nationalities: Croats, Slovenes, Serbs, Macedonian Bulgarians, etc., with their own national aspirations. A cure must be found for the open wounds in the body of Europe, since there are still unresolved national issues, including those of Croats and Macedonian Bulgarians.’

We enclose several documents confirming the facts presented by us.

From what has been written so far, it can be seen that the conflict on the territory of today's North Macedonia has existed for a long time, as established by the Croats and Slovenes during a period when Bulgaria did not participate in it. For this reason, under no circumstances can we speak of a ‘bilateral dispute’. Bulgaria has intervened only very timidly in this internal Macedonian conflict in 1948. It undertook a more decisive stance in 1963, and only in 2021 did it firmly decide to support the demands of the oppressed Macedonian Bulgarians.

Recent developments in North Macedonia are increasingly persuading the entire civilized world that the problem in this country is not ‘an unnecessary historical dispute with Bulgaria’ or ‘a bilateral issue,’ as President Pendarovski claims. At the heart of today's problems in North Macedonia is the unwillingness of the political elite to respect the rights of Bulgarians in the country. In the media and in their public messages, politicians and public figures in North Macedonia systematically use hate speech against Bulgaria and Bulgarians. The definitions of Bulgarians in public discourse range from ‘Tatars’ to ‘occupiers’.

This demonization and dehumanization of the Bulgarians is the result of the educational process which has not been reformed since the time of former Yugoslavia. History textbooks in North Macedonia still present a false historical narrative. From an early age, children are indoctrinated to hate Bulgaria and Bulgarians as bearers of the greatest evil for their country.

By inciting hatred and fear, the political elite in North Macedonia encourages hate crimes against Macedonian Bulgarians. A sense of impunity has been created in society, and the perpetrators of hate crimes are portrayed as heroes in the state-controlled media, along with the impression of widespread public support for them. The ultimate goal of the authorities in Skopje is to continue to justify the repression of the Macedonian Bulgarians by propagating hatred and false historical narrative.

Although Skopje is silent on the matter, we recall that Bulgaria was the first country to recognize the independence of North Macedonia in 1991 and has never denied the right of its citizens to declare their Macedonian identity. At the same time, Bulgaria cannot close its eyes to the systematic violation of the human rights of Macedonian citizens who preserve their Bulgarian identity. That is why Bulgaria supported the desire of those citizens of North Macedonia who have preserved their Bulgarian self-awareness to be included in its constitution as a people with a right to statehood.

Despite the commitments made internationally in 2022, the government in Skopje, actively supported by Belgrade, refuses to give this elementary human right to the Macedonian Bulgarians, which the other ten ethnic nations in the country possess. This is a drastic form of discrimination which in the past had taken the forms of genocide. Such a policy has no place in the EU, no matter which ethnic group is persecuted. For this reason, it is inadmissible to talk about a bilateral problem, because respect for human rights is a universal principle and a civilizational commitment for any government in the world that claims to be democratic.

The demands for real reforms in North Macedonia are enshrined in the proposal of the French Presidency of the EU from 2022. It reflects the ‘4+1’ package and it is not only Bulgarian, but of the whole EU. We are convinced that neither Bulgaria nor the other EU members want to exercise ‘dictat’ on North Macedonia, as the propaganda in Skopje and Belgrade claims. The solution to the long-standing problems in North Macedonia is urgent reform and democratization of institutions, in order to achieve national reconciliation, and not the continuation of state anti-Bulgarian propaganda and repression of persons with Bulgarian self-awareness inherited from the totalitarian Yugoslav period.

CO-CHAIRMAN: Prof Trendafil Mitev

CO-CHAIRMAN: Assoc Prof Spas Tashev

SECRETARY: Dimitar M. Dimitrov 

Sofia, September 28, 2023

Address to the Presidents of Slovenia and Croatia