[ad_1]
Cancellation of intergovernmental conference scheduled for December is expected
We insist on the fulfillment of the contract
Bulgaria will block the formal start of negotiations for North Macedonia’s membership in the EU during the regular meeting of the General Affairs Council of the foreign ministers of member states scheduled for November 17, Trud learned. Such was the decision of the National Assembly in the spring and the official position. On November 6, Bulgaria announced that it could not support the negotiating framework with the Republic of North Macedonia, and the position was confirmed to the Prime Minister of North Macedonia, Zoran Zaev, this week.
According to Trud sources, the agenda for the meeting of the first EU diplomats on Tuesday (November 17) already establishes that there will be no debate on the issue. Instead, a report from the German presidency on progress on the issue of the ongoing talks between Sofia and Skopje is planned. In this way, the intergovernmental conference scheduled for December, which would start the negotiation process, will be formally canceled.
Historians, academics and politicians from the ruling coalition have already expressed the view that until North Macedonia begins to comply with the neighborhood agreement, Bulgaria will not give it the green light to formally start talks on EU membership.
Krassimir Karakachanov, Deputy Prime Minister and IMRO Leader:
We will not give in to attempts to falsify history.
Bulgaria cannot accept an identity built on a false history and on an anti-Bulgarian basis. The dispute is not about one person or another in the story at all. It does not depend at all on the person of Gotse Delchev. It is only one of the great, but not the only personalities, who was the subject of forgeries by the then People’s Republic of Macedonia, the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and the present North Macedonia.
Bulgaria has done a lot for the development of North Macedonia, also supporting it for NATO. However, the situation with EU membership is more delicate. Bulgaria will not give in to attempts to fabricate history.
We continue to support the integration of the Western Balkans into the EU, but this cannot be done at any cost. Nobody pressured the Bulgarian government. We are in favor of Macedonia’s accession to the EU, but North Macedonia is not fulfilling the agreements. There are no changes in terms of hate speech. There is no change regarding the Macedonian monuments, which incite hatred towards our country.
First, no one has pressured the Bulgarian government. The German Presidency has so far only expressed the position to mediate, if necessary, in the talks between the two countries. The Bulgarian government was not pressured. Secondly, in discussions with representatives of the Republic of North Macedonia, Bulgaria confirmed its clear position that we are “in favor” of Macedonia’s membership in the EU, but we believe that the agreement of 1 August 2017 does not it is implemented as its provisions. “Karakachanov said and gave an example with the stagnation of the work of the historical commission and the publications of the anti-Bulgarian media.
Without overcoming hate speech, without a clear review of the educational system, based on false facts, our country cannot agree to schedule the first intergovernmental conference to start negotiations for the accession of the Republic of North Macedonia to the EU.
Unfortunately, the ruling coalition in Skopje believes that once we have opened the door to NATO, Bulgaria can be pressured or, for other political reasons, agree to repeal its framework position and parliamentary statement from last year. For our part, it has been repeatedly explained that the government has no intention and cannot bypass the decision of the Bulgarian Parliament, as Bulgaria is a parliamentary republic. For us, the question remains open.
Position
The Macedonian Institute of Sciences has supported the government
The Scientific Institute of Macedonia supports the position of the Bulgarian government before the European Commission for the non-acceptance of the proposed negotiation framework with the Republic of North Macedonia. We hope that the convening of the EU Intergovernmental Conference and the start of the country’s accession negotiations can take place only after the Skopje government has given clear guarantees that it will comply with the demands set out in the Declaration. This is stated in the position of the Scientific Institute of Macedonia, which is the oldest active research center in the historical-geographical region of Macedonia. The institute was established in 1923 in Sofia.
The position insists on the recognition of the Bulgarian roots of the population in North Macedonia, on the condemnation of political repressions and assassinations of Bulgarians after 1944, on the change of textbooks and manuals in which it has been replaced the historical truth about the Bulgarians.
***
Associate Professor Naum Kaichev, Vice Chairman of the Historical Commission with North Macedonia, before Trud:
Clear guarantees are needed to fulfill the contract
– Associate Professor Kaichev, a meeting of the General Affairs Council will be held on November 17, in which our country must announce whether it vetoes negotiations with North Macedonia. What is your opinion? Should we block North Macedonia’s path to the EU?
– Some progress has been made in the work of our commission, but it was until the spring and summer of 2019. For almost a year and a half there has been no progress, no wish from colleagues in the Republic of North Macedonia to take tangible steps to make decisions. . It is known that for almost a year they stopped participating in the commission. This is part of the breach of the contract, unfortunately there are violations and breach of the entire contract. As an expert, I observe this non-compliance, so it is logical that the government has no choice but to postpone the intergovernmental conference, which is the start of accession negotiations, until guarantees are given for the implementation of the treaty.
– The wording of the contract is too general. I don’t understand what the violations are.
– The wording is general, but must be full of content. I told them that there is a setback in the part of the historical commission – that is, until the summer of 2019 we had results, and after this period – no. Even the decisions made have not been announced or implemented. In other areas, such as infrastructure, for example, there has been little progress. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs mentioned that the funds for Corridor №8 were diverted and not used. The situation is the same in the field of culture and education. There are no new Bulgarian investments in North Macedonia. In the media, hate speech against Bulgaria not only did not decrease, but also increased. There is a campaign against Bulgaria not only in the media controlled by the opposition VMRO DPMNE, but also in the media close to the government.
– How should the idea of compromise of a chancellery, present in the face of history, be interpreted?
– This is a formula that is the most common. In essence, I suppose it implies, on the one hand, that Bulgaria accepts the realities of the Republic of North Macedonia, which are derived from its constitution, and on the other hand, that Skopje accepts its Bulgarian base and origin.
– What should North Macedonia do to get Bulgaria’s support for EU membership?
– Clear guarantees must be given that the neighborhood agreement will be implemented and a key agreement must be reached on the Bulgarian past of the two countries for the period before the Second World War.
***
BAS: Your official language is a variant of Bulgarian.
The author’s team presents a series of arguments
The official language of the Republic of North Macedonia is a variant of Bulgarian, according to scientists from the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences and university professors, who have compiled their research in a specialized book edition “About the official language of the Republic of Macedonia from North”.
According to them, in essence, the Macedonian language remains a written regional norm of the southwest of the Bulgarian language, and not a separate language.
The fact that the official written standard has the status of a variant of the Bulgarian language does not prevent it from fulfilling the function of the state language, the language of education and literature in North Macedonia.
In support of his opinion, the author’s team presents a series of linguistic, historical and cultural arguments, which are based on the results of numerous scientific studies.
***
Prof. Plamen Pavlov – historian:
Destitovization will take place in Skopje
It is gratifying that in this case we have a consensus between the government, the president and the parliament and, despite some minor differences, in general the Bulgarian position is united. There can be nothing more than a consolidated position on such important issues at the national level. Bulgaria does not put a bar on the development of the Republic of North Macedonia, on the contrary. The latest statements from Skopje, disguised or not as European phraseology, again show that there is still a lie and a policy of hatred towards Bulgaria.
In no case can there be a reversal of Bulgarian history, the Bulgarian language and the traditions of our compatriots beyond the current border, because for 1000 years only Bulgarians have been spoken in this territory: it is the so-called Slavic language. population. If we back down, it will be a betrayal not only of ourselves, but also of the people of Macedonia, because they too deserve to know the truth.
I appeal again through the newspaper “Trud” to the Macedonian elite, because the people there know very well what the truth is. And this hypocrisy in front of his own people is time to stop.
How can we give in, if they don’t change the anti-Bulgarian lessons in their textbooks, they write about a minority in Pirin! Destitovization should take place there. Tito’s mantras continue to dominate, although in Serbia and the other republics Tito is no longer fashionable, in Macedonia he remains an authoritarian figure.
Acad. Georgi Markov – historian:
History always remembers and condemns traitors
I will say it as a historian: we cannot compromise with our native history and we must not succumb to outside pressure and the charge that we are hampering the Western Balkans’ accession to the European Union. We must respect the conditions that we have set, because if we now allow North Macedonia to join the European Union, we will have other consequences by demanding the so-called Macedonian national minority. I recommend this with my mind and heart to the Bulgarian government.
His historian colleague and now Deputy Prime Minister Krassimir Karakachanov is right when he says that Bulgaria should not be pressured by either the Macedonians or the European Union. If we succumb to the pressure now, it will remind us of that regrettable 1946, when Moscow pressed us to recognize the so-called Macedonian nation.
Our experience is bitter, so let us know our true cause. Let’s not repeat the mistakes of our previous rulers. If you give up today and accept the pressure, you must be sure that history will doom you. Traitors are always remembered. No one has the right to meddle with the truth and mock the memory of our heroes from our national liberation movement in Macedonia.
[ad_2]
