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THE Prime Minister of North Macedonia, Zoran zaef, visibly trying to appease their reactions From bulgaria For his country to start EU accession negotiations, he referred to the events that occurred during the Second World War, between 1941 and 1944, when the region was under Bulgarian occupation, causing storm of reactions στα Skopje.
«Bulgarians are not fascists, but our friends… At the beginning of that period (Bulgaria) exercised the administration of the region, but then joined the antifascists, fought for freedom and democracy, became part of the antifascist front. “The Bulgarian and Macedonian armies (that is, the partisans) liberated Kumanovo, Skopje and our entire region,” Zoran Zaef said in an interview with the Bulgarian news agency Bgnes.
Zoran Zaef has revealed that lately some 20 inscriptions were removed from monuments in North Macedonia, which read “Bulgarian fascist occupation”. This statement was a surprise: the public opinion of his country did not know him.
The Social Democratic Prime Minister of North Macedonia indirectly but clearly stated that the former Yugoslavia “divided” the peoples of Bulgaria and your country.
“The task of politicians is to unite our people, because for many years, for decades, some people kept us apart. Several directions have done it, like the former Yugoslavia for a long time. “We have to be together because we are neighbors,” said Zoran Zaef.
His comments drew a storm of reactions in Skopje, from almost all sides.
The right-wing opposition party VMRO-DPMNE characterized “scandalous “the statements of Zoran Zaef and he warned her “not to think about putting her in danger Macedonian national identity».
Also intense were the reactions of the literary people of North Macedonia, as well as the people whose relatives participated in the anti-fascist struggle, fought against the occupier, even giving their lives, who stated that “Zaev distorts history and offends the country. “
The historian Alexander Stoichev stated that historical facts cannot be changed and added that there is no doubt that in the period 1941-1944 the Bulgarian troops in present-day North Macedonia were fascist occupying forces, in no way contributed to the liberation of the country.
History teachers, intellectuals and journalists from Skopje have distanced themselves from Zaef’s remarks.
In the same interview, Zoran Zaef said that North Macedonia had sent a letter to Bulgaria, in which it explicitly and unequivocally stated that it had no territorial aspirations or interfered in the internal affairs of other countries, and that it did not claim minority rights.
On November 17, Sofia refused to approve the European Union negotiating framework for North Macedonia., essentially blocking the country’s accession negotiations, which were due to begin in December, before the end of the German presidency of the EU.
Bulgaria stated that it could not currently support the opening of accession negotiations between the 27 and Skopje, due to Several overt linguistic and historical differences between North Macedonia and Bulgaria.
However, the two governments assured that they were continuing their efforts to find a solution to these problems, so the start of accession negotiations from North Macedonia until the end of the year.
Skopje considers that the attitude adopted by Sofia at this stage is not friendly. The President of North Macedonia Stevo pentarovski (He comes from Zoran Zaef’s Social Democratic Party) argued a few days ago that “the current political elite in Bulgaria – government and opposition – is still dominated by the communist mindset and Todor Zivkov.”
When asked by the Bulgarian news agency to comment on Stevo Pentarovski’s statement, Zoran Zaef said that the President of North Macedonia loves Bulgaria, but has not yet gained enough political experience.
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