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In anticipation of the negotiations for North Macedonia’s accession to the EU, the Bulgarian authorities decided to explain to Europe that the Macedonian people and language do not exist. According to Sofia, this is all a fog and a totalitarian communist legacy. Is this really the case and what does the Bulgarian “Maidan” have in common, a victim of whom Russia runs the risk of becoming the old enemy? This was written by Dmitry Bavirin on the portal vz.ru. The material is translated by Work.
The Bulgarian-Macedonian question is in many respects similar to the Russian-Ukrainian question, which makes it easier for Russians to put themselves in the shoes of their “brothers.”
But if there is consciousness, it is not necessary for us to look at this conflict.
“They have already stolen everything from us”
Modern Bulgaria is the plague corner of the EU. The poorest country (the Romanians made good use of money from Brussels and got ahead), the most corrupt (protests against the merger of the government with the oligarchs for the third consecutive month) and the worst index of press freedom in the EU ( controlled by the press) by the oligarchs themselves). It’s no fun being Bulgarian.
But once in their history they were an example: as early as 632, Khan Kubrat united the scattered tribes and created Greater Bulgaria. In other words, Bulgaria is one of the oldest countries in Europe, which has survived to this day, and this is well remembered there and loudly declares its historical greatness.
Young, small, troubled, and by Bulgarian standards, impoverished North Macedonia can hardly boast of historical greatness, but it sincerely tries. This is especially evident in its capital, Skopje. This was first mentioned in the 1st century AD, but hardly anyone and hardly ever considered this deeply rural city as the possible capital of an independent state, especially after the 1963 earthquake that destroyed 75% of the buildings. he.
However, Skopje became the state capital and Macedonia was the only republic that left the SSR without war. Now this city is furnished with hundreds of monuments to the “great Macedonians” and therefore looks a lot like the buffet of an old woman who collects vacuum cleaners.
In the very center are the statues of Alexander the Great and his father Philip II, that is, the historical claims of the Macedonians even extend to the great ancient empire, whose population has nothing to do with the Slavs. Therefore, the Greeks, who did not want to share their own heritage, had a long dispute with the Macedonians, and in particular, they blocked Skopje’s path to the EU and NATO.
The Macedonians borrowed from the Bulgarians nothing less and, in a sense, much more. The concept of “Macedonian” professed by the government calls the Macedonian language the first Slavic state language, referring to the status of the Bulgarian king Samuel. At the same time, Bulgaria is being denied the role of “cradle of Slavic culture” because the inventor of the Cyrillic alphabet, a pupil of Cyril and Methodius, Kliment Ohridski, lived in the city of Ohrid, a tourist pearl in southwestern Macedonia. modern. Of course, it also belongs to the Macedonians, although it belongs to the First Kingdom of Bulgaria.
We see something very similar in our neighbors, where the ancient Ukri dug the Black Sea, the Rus of Kiev was equated with Ukraine, and Russian historical figures from the Queen of France Anna Ruska to the aircraft builder Igor Sikorsky are registered as Ukrainians.
In Russia, this irritates many, and Bulgarians are so irritated that it can be scary to see them at historical conferences. From the point of view of the “brothers” there are no Macedonians, only pampered and tempted Bulgarians, and the Macedonian language does not exist, and this is one of the three variants of the Bulgarian language.
Sofia accuses the modern Slavic state, with its capital in Skopje, at best of parasitizing the Bulgarian national history and culture, and at worst of ethnocide of the Bulgarian population, which is already a crime of It hurts humanity.
And the most beloved thesis of the Bulgarian radicals is that the entire Macedonian nation with all its attributes was invented by the communist dictatorship. And there really is a bit of truth to that.
Under the UVA flag
The first conversations about the existence of a special Slavic Macedonian people, separate from the Bulgarians, although similar to them, arose among the local intelligentsia in the second half of the 19th century. At the beginning of the 20th century, the philologist, historian and politician Kraste Misirkov created the Macedonian literary language. But until the beginning of World War II, the vast majority of the Slavs who inhabited present-day North Macedonia called themselves Bulgarians or simply Slavs, without unnecessary frills.
Two out of three Macedonian Slavs were illiterate, and neighboring Bulgaria perceived it as a land of order, prosperity and prosperity. That is why many accepted the Bulgarian occupation with joy, because the then head of the aggressor state was Tsar Boris III, a popular figure in the Balkans, almost legendary and loved by the common people.
The return of Macedonia, as well as of some Serbian and Greek lands within Bulgaria, is part of the national idea, which eventually leads the country to an alliance with Hitler. Boris III met with the Führer many times, but was not a fan of his ideas because he was forced to take into account the Russophile sentiments among the people and part of the elite.
As a result, Sofia joined the fascist bloc, but with minimal enthusiasm. For example, it did not send troops to the Eastern Front and did not intervene in the war between Germany and Greece and Yugoslavia. More precisely, she did not intervene until Belgrade and Athens capitulated, after which the Bulgarian troops quickly occupied the lands that interested them.
In Bulgarian historiography, this is presented as a “liberation” in which there is a certain logic: if Macedonia had not been occupied by the Bulgarians, it would have been occupied by the Germans. In the same way, the USSR justified the separation of Western Ukraine and Western Belarus from Poland, and it was said, but please, we take what is ours and we will defend what is ours.
The Greeks were not at all reassured by this, but the Macedonians were generally satisfied. True, this lasted only a few months, after which, to their surprise, it fell on the heads of the Bulgarians, and yesterday’s “liberation brothers” suddenly became synonymous with the worst for Macedonians.
In Sofia, they shyly explain the change in Macedonian sentiments with the death of the popular Tsar Boris, but for the most part it is not about him.
First, Macedonia was inundated with arrogant and corrupt Bulgarian officials. They treated the local population arrogantly and quickly turned against themselves.
Second, there was a forced Bulgarization, and in particular, all schools were quickly transferred to the linguistic norms of the Bulgarian language, and the same applied to all public places of admission, and for everything Macedonian they even began to punish. The elderly could not bear such interference in private life and the guerrilla movement flourished in the republic.
As for Tito’s communists, the bet on the nationally oriented Macedonians, as opposed to the Bulgarians, allies of Hitler, became quite logical for them, and also habitual (in the same way, the separate Bosnian nation was invented in Josip Broz headquarters). . The Slavs, unhappy with the rude Bulgarian people, became the basis for the new government of the republic.
Interestingly, Germany also has its own independent Macedonian project. The Nazi regime did not approve the inclusion of Macedonia in Bulgaria (the Sofia protectorate over these lands was considered temporary) and as a cooperation with IMRO, the Internal Revolutionary Organization of Macedonia, or Macedonian nationalists. Initially, they supported the Bulgarians, then all other Macedonians became disillusioned with them, and in September 1944 they proclaimed the Independent Republic of Macedonia (PRM), which existed for two months. For Hitler, it was a lever of influence on Sofia, and she never dared to leave the Nazi bloc and side with the Allies.
By the way, the flag of IMRO and NRM is completely identical to the flag of UVA, the Insurgent Army of Ukraine. This is where the resemblance to Ukraine ends. The Republic of Macedonia with the Macedonian state language is indeed a project of the communists, but the project is mostly anti-Nazi. And the fact that it is also anti-Bulgarian is the fault of the Bulgarians themselves.
The last refuge for the scoundrel
In July 2020, several activists, led by former Justice Minister Hristo Ivanov, landed on a beach near the city of Burgas. They were quickly removed from there by the guards, who do not have this right, since the land is owned exclusively by the State. Thus, this expedition fulfilled its mission: Ivanov wanted to see if the “ordinary Bulgarians” could rest on this beach, even if it was the residence of Ahmed Dogan, a businessman and politician of Turkish origin, who was called the “gray cardinal” of the Bulgarian government. . , and who runs the country together with Prime Minister Boyko Borissov and oligarch and media mogul Delyan Peevski.
These events gave rise to numerous protests in which up to 400,000 citizens participated. The rallies continue to this day, demanding the resignation of Borissov and Chief Prosecutor Ivan Geshev. According to the opposition, together with Dogan and Peevski, they formed a criminal cabal and plunged the country into a swamp of corruption.
In early fall, protesters even attempted to storm the parliament building, injuring dozens and arresting hundreds.
I mean, this is the Maidan. In Russia, they do not like Maidans, but here you should not look at the general background, but the details.
Boyko Borissov is a conservative nationalist, Russophobic, and utterly pro-American figure, and his efforts buried the Russian projects of South Stream and Belene NPP. And the protesters are backed by the socialists, who have long focused on cooperation with Moscow, and by Bulgarian President Rumen Radev, who could identify as pro-Russian with some advance.
However, Borissov has had a disgusting image in the EU for some time. The European media compared his government to a mafia clan and predicted a crushing defeat for the ruling GERB party in the spring elections.
And while they still have time left, Borisov is trying to do at least one thing, like putting the nationalists back on his side so that they do not join the opposition, contrary to his previous agreements. Thus was born the memorandum sent to the European capitals, in which Sofia explained her position on the Macedonian issue: there are no Macedonians, there is no Macedonian language, so Bulgarians living in North Macedonia must “break with the ideological legacy from Communist Yugoslavia “before to enter the EU.
This is a pure public relations campaign. Boyko has no power to block North Macedonia’s accession process to the EU, because it was not because of him that this country was struck on the knee and forced to change its name.
Not to mention that the main objection to EU enlargement in the Balkans now belongs to French President Emmanuel Macron. He does it for his own reasons and is hardly interested in the opinion of the Bulgarians.
By denying the right to exist of an entire nation, Borisov wants to present himself as a defender of the Bulgarian historical heritage by the Macedonian “marauders”. From his point of view, this way he will remember his mobster voters less, but from the Macedonian point of view, he’s a real mobster right now.
Russia
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