site.btaJoint Sofia-Skopje Historical Commission Reports No Progress on Archbishopric of Ohrid Topic

A meeting of the Joint Multidisciplinary Commission of Experts on Historical and Educational Issues between Bulgaria and North Macedonia in Skopje on Thursday and Friday once again failed to reach progress on the historical matter of the  Archbishopric of Ohrid and its depiction in history books for primary schools. The topic has been discussed for more than two years without a consensus.

The Commission’s first meeting for 2025 focused on technical documentation, and the minutes of two meetings held in 2023 were approved and signed, the Bulgarian composition of the historical commission told BTA.

The Bulgarian side proposed for discussion several historical figures with jubilee anniversaries in 2025, but at the insistence of the representatives of the Republic of North Macedonia in the commission, the topic was postponed to the next meeting, which will be held in April in Sofia.

In September last year, by a decision of the government in Skopje, the composition of the commission from the Republic of North Macedonia was changed.

The Joint Multidisciplinary Commission of Experts on Historical and Educational Issues was established as a result of the Treaty of Friendship and Good Neighbourliness between Bulgaria and the Republic of North Macedonia signed on August 1, 2017.

So far, the joint Commission has adopted recommendations for the joint commemoration of five historical figures, the Holy Brothers Cyril and Methodius, St. Naum of Ohrid, St. Kliment of Ohrid and Tsar Samuil, and recommendations for changes in the history textbooks for the sixth grade in North Macedonia and for the fifth grade in Bulgaria.