The FYROM-Bulgaria dispute

[Truth Bearer]

The Macedonia-Bulgaria Dispute or Endless Torment of Clio

Can Karpat, AIA Balkanian section

Both Bulgaria and Macedonia keep harassing poor Clio, Apollo’s Muse of History. Although Bulgaria was the first to recognise the Macedonian State, it still questions the authenticity of the Macedonian nation and language, for its own national historical identity is at stake. With the birth of Macedonia, Bulgaria runs the risk of losing the “most romantic part of its history”: Its heroic freedom fight against the Ottoman rule in Macedonia during the 19th century …

The “Macedonian Question” revived


The outcome of the Russian-Turkish war 1877-78

Bulgaria was the first to recognise Macedonia after its independence in 1991. In 1992, however, former Bulgarian President Zhelyu Zhelev emphasised that his country recognised the Macedonian State, but not the nation and its language. According to Bulgaria, Macedonia is no more than a geographical term, and the Macedonians are no more than “lost Bulgarians” through “historical accidents”. However, the Bulgarian position is not just the political caprice of a powerful neighbour. If Bulgaria admits the authenticity of the Macedonian nation, it runs the risk of losing the most glorious pages of its own history: Its freedom fight against the Ottomans in Macedonia during the 19th century. Bulgaria worries that the Bulgarian heroes of the “Macedonian Question” be replaced by Macedonian ones.
The “Macedonian Question”, which was the quintessence of the wider “Question d’Orient”, can be summoned up as the delicate partition problem of the Ottoman territories in Eastern Europe during the 19th and 20th centuries. Under the Ottoman Empire, Macedonia was a large territory, including Skopje, Bitola and Thessaloniki. Macedonia’s diverse ethnic and religious composition ensured that it became a battlefield for the nationalistic interests of its neighbours. One of those neighbours was Bulgaria.


Macedonian rebels, 1903

In 1878, Russia defeated the Ottoman Empire. With the Treaty of San Stefano, Bulgaria became independent and annexed Macedonia and Thrace (southern Bulgaria and northeastern Greece of today). Western powers, which were most irritated by this Russo-Slav hegemony in the Balkans, gathered a congress in Berlin. There Bulgaria’s “Greater Bulgaria dream” shattered: Macedonia was given back to the Ottomans. From that date on, the autonomous Bulgarian principality along with the Bulgarians of Macedonia started a guerrilla fight. In 1893, a revolutionary committee called the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organisation (IMRO) was founded in Macedonia. At that time, the founders of IMRO probably did not know what problems the paternity of the Committee was to cause these days. The ethnicity of the mythical leaders like Goce Delcev or Jane Sandanski keep causing serious problems: Are they Bulgarian or Macedonian? Today the main Macedonian organisation in Bulgaria, the United Macedonian Organisation (OMO-Ilinden) organises every year a commemorative assembly at Rozhen Monastery to commemorate the death of Jane Sandanski or the “Pirin Tsar”. Violent clashes with the Bulgarian police are inevitable, for Sandanski’s nationality is far from being clear.


Goce Delcev

Unfortunately today historians are deprived of an objective census concerning the Ottoman Macedonia. The Ottomans used to identify their Slav subjects in the Balkans in terms of their religious affiliation. Towards the end of 18th century, the Macedonian Orthodox Church was banned in favour of the Greek Orthodox Church. When during the 1870s the Bulgarian Orthodox Church was permitted in Bulgaria, it immediately attracted Slav speakers in Macedonia, including the Macedonians. Therefore to identify the Orthodox Macedonians, who affiliated with the Bulgarian Church as Bulgarians, or those, who attended the Greek Church as Greeks would not be historically convincing...

IMRO’s program was simple: “Macedonia for the Macedonians”. Although all ethnic communities -Bulgarian, Macedonian, Serbian and Greek- also fought with one another for territorial gains, they had a common enemy, the Ottoman. That was the rehearsal of the Balkan Wars. The Ilindin Uprising of 1903 is crucial. The Uprising against the Turkish Sultan Abdulhamid II lasted three months and covered most of Macedonian territory. In the end, IMRO's forces were defeated by the Ottoman Army and followed by a brutal repression. Today, every year, both Macedonia and Bulgaria commemorate the Ilindin Uprising, though for different reasons. For Macedonia, the Ilindin Uprising was the event, which founded their modern State and provided their national identity.For Bulgaria, the Uprising was the heroic freedom fight of those Bulgarians, who lived outside the motherland.
Although the IMRO started its guerrilla activities in the name of the “Bulgarian nation”, one should not miss the fact that as early as 1905, the IMRO was split up into two major fractions. Jane Sandanski’s Seres Group aimed at the formation of an independent Macedonia and a single Macedonian identity (the Federalists), while Boris Sarafov’s fraction aimed at the incorporation of Macedonia into Bulgaria (the Centralists). In order to achieve his aim, Sandanski did not even hesitate to cooperate with the Young Turks. One can conclude that the Macedonians of today are descendants of Sandanski.



Bulgarian history is marked with sad efforts in order to annex the dreamland of Macedonia.In 1913, Bulgaria, which considered Macedonia within its religious and linguistic ambit, went to war with its former allies, Greece and Serbia. The campaign was a complete disaster. Bulgaria had to content itself with the small area of Pirin Macedonia (today Blagoevgrad district, south-western Bulgaria). The rest of Macedonia was divided up between Serbia (Vardar Macedonia) and Greece (Aegean Macedonia). For the sake of Macedonia alone, Bulgaria fought twice along with the “wrong side” during the two world wars. That is why Macedonia is the core of Bulgarian history and nationalism. Former Bulgarian President Petar Stoyanov stated: “Macedonia is the most romantic part of Bulgarian history”. Charged with psycho-historical connotations, Macedonia was the landmark, which created the “Bulgarianity”. When one knows Bulgarian history and poetry, one can understand why Bulgaria today accuses Macedonia of “historical theft”.

Jane Sandanski

In 1945, Tito granted Macedonia, which had been called “Southern Serbia” since 1913, the status of founder republic of Yugoslavia.Behind Tito’s decision, there were multiple reasons: to reward the Macedonians for their fight against the Nazis, to balance the Serbian hegemony in the new socialist Yugoslavia and to prevent Macedonia to become a bone of contention between Serbia and Bulgaria. Moreover, until 1948, there was serious talk of a Balkan federation, within which Macedonia, perhaps reunited with Bulgarian and Greek parts, would become a larger entity, the “Greater Macedonia”. The brief period between 1945 and 1956 marked the golden days of the Macedonians living in Bulgaria. The close relation between Tito and Stalin in the first post-war years pressured Bulgaria to recognise the Macedonians of Bulgaria as a national minority in 1946.
However, when in 1948 Tito fell out with Stalin, and in 1956 Todor Zhivkov consolidated his communist dictatorship in Bulgaria, the spring time with Macedonia was over.

Todor Zhivkov

Zhivkov’s assimilation measures towards the Macedonians of Bulgaria did not differ from those towards the Turks of Bulgaria. The inhabitants of Pirin Macedonia were no longer Macedonians, but pure-blood Bulgarians, for Macedonians, after all, were no more than “alienated” Bulgarians.
Only after the fall of Zhivkov in 1989 and the independence of Macedonia in 1991, a new era began for the Macedonia-Bulgaria relations …

Bulgaria: Insincere big brother?
In 1991, Bulgaria recognised the Macedonian State. However, Bulgaria, recognising a separate State and even a separate national spirit, did not recognise a separate nation and language. According to Bulgaria, some historical accidents created a separate Macedonian State, but not a separate nation: the Macedonians are a subgroup of the Bulgarian nation. Like Greece, Bulgaria questions the nation building process of Tito, and considers the Macedonian nationality as an “invented nationality”.
Especially the language issue caused a serious crisis between the two countries. For seven years, the two governments, though on good terms, found themselves unable to sign a single bilateral document. The problem was resolved in 1999 with a rather complicated formula. When signing treaties, the Bulgarian and Macedonian representatives sign with this long phrase in the end: "Done in the official languages of the two States - Bulgarian language, according to the Constitution of the Republic of Bulgaria and Macedonian language, according to the Constitution of the Republic of Macedonia”. Thanks to that formula, Macedonia and Bulgaria signed so far at least 50 agreements. However, every time a bilateral document is signed, this formula reminds Macedonia of Bulgarian refusal to recognise “Macedonian” as a legitimate linguistic term.
According to Bulgaria, the Macedonian language is a dialect of Bulgarian. One Bulgarian joke marks that “Macedonian is Bulgarian typed on a Serbian typewriter”. Both languages belong to the groups of South Slavonic languages, alongside Serbian, Croatian and Slovene. Macedonian, which was granted the status of a separate literary language in 1944, is accepted by most of scholars as an independent language. One can develop a similar logic about the twin languages of Croatian and Serbian. These two languages, which are particularly close, were formerly regarded as one language called Serbo-Croat, although most Croatian speakers and philologists now recognise differences, which are not only of a linguistic but also of a cultural nature. That the Croatian and Serbian languages are very similar does not mean that these two nations are the same. One can easily multiply the examples: German and Dutch, Turkish and Azerbaijani, Rumanian and Moldavian, etc.
Despite the linguistic dispute, Macedonia has good relations with Bulgaria in economic, political and military spheres. The governments of the two countries try to improve business relations. A bilateral Free Trade Agreement was signed in 1999. Macedonia is the third biggest export market for its neighbour. In August 2004, the two countries signed the Memorandum for Cooperation in the Sphere of the European and Euro-Atlantic Integration. Under the memorandum, Bulgaria undertakes to share its experience and to assist Macedonia along its way to NATO and the EU. Bulgaria has also donated tanks, artillery and other military technology to the Macedonian Army.
It seems that Bulgaria, which will join the European club in 2008 at the latest, behaves like a caring “big brother” to Macedonia. However, as far as some “privileges” are concerned -easy citizenship and higher education opportunities generously offered by Bulgaria-, Macedonia suspects the sincerity of this “brotherhood”.
The Institute for War and Peace Reporting reports that between 2000 and 2005, 15.500 Macedonians applied for Bulgarian citizenship. The number of candidates is doubling every year. There are cases of entire villages sending one person to apply on everyone’s behalf. The exceptional ease with which the Macedonians can acquire citizenship is noteworthy. In order to prove Bulgarian origin, it is enough merely to declare it. There is no need to establish prior residence in Bulgaria.
Ten years ago, there were only 30 Macedonian students studying in Sofia. Today, between 700 and 800 Macedonians come to study in Bulgaria each year, benefiting from various scholarship offered by the Bulgarian State. However, most of these grants are intended for those Macedonians, who declare themselves as Bulgarians. Moreover, all students must accept the Bulgarian version of history.
Some Macedonians interpret the Bulgarian generosity as a disguised measure of assimilation. Aneta Serafimova, a professor of medieval studies at Skopje University accuses Bulgaria of abusing its status as an EU candidate. According to Serafimova, the benefits of a growing economy and access to European labour markets bewitch the young Macedonians. Some Macedonian politicians even suggest that the Bulgarian State has a hidden agenda of “Bulgarianisation” and ultimately “reunification”.
Although there is probably no such agenda in Bulgaria, the fact that the Bulgarian generosity goes beyond any standard positive discrimination compromises its sincerity.Despite the good relations between the two countries, Bulgaria still refuses to recognise its Macedonian minority. Most of Macedonians inhabit in Blagoevgrad province (Pirin Macedonia).


The Blagoevgrad province or Pirin Macedonia in Bulgaria

According to the 2001 census, the population of the province consists of 286.491 Bulgarians, 31.857 Turks, 12.405 Roma and 3117 Macedonians. 4242 people did not specify their ethnicity. These figures, however, are debatable. The main spokesman of the Macedonian minority of Bulgaria is the OMO-Ilinden Pirin, which was founded in November 1989.
In 1999, the OMO-Ilinden Pirin was registered as a political party, and elected two mayors and three members to municipal councils in the Goce Delcev and Razlog areas. In February 2000, however, the Bulgarian Constitutional Court prohibited the party for endangering national integrity with separatist demands. On 25th November 2005, the European Court of Human Rights condemned the ban on the OMO-Ilinden Pirin. According to the Court, Bulgaria, which ratified the European Convention on Human Rights in 1992, violated article 11, which guaranteed freedom of association. Although the Court admitted that some OMO-Ilinden Pirin leaders had separatist views, it pointed out that the negligible public influence of the party made the Bulgarian claims that it threatened national security exaggerated. In fact, the decision of the Court is very controversial. On the basis of a similar logic, one has to re-write the history of the Weimar Republic as the purest democracy ever existed on earth


OMO Ilinden Pirin flag

This does not mean, however, that Bulgaria should not recognise its Macedonian minority. Bulgaria also had similar problems with its Turkish minority. The case of the Turks could be a great example to follow for the Macedonians of Bulgaria.
The main problem is that Macedonia is condemned to identify its nationality through negations: A Macedonian is not Serbian, a Macedonian is not Greek, a Macedonian is not Bulgarian, etc. As Stefan Troebst, an anthropologist and historian from Leipzig, states: “The Macedonians know what they do not want to be”. What Macedonia needs now is a positive definition of its national identity. The fact that the nation building process began as late as 1945 does not mean that the nation itself did not exist before that date.
Bulgaria is anxious to lose the core of its national identity if it recognises a separate Macedonian nationality. However, Bulgarian national historical identity must not be reduced to its fight against the Ottomans. While the Ottomans conquered the Balkans during the 14th century, the first Bulgarian tribes arrived in the region as early as 6th century. The 15-century-long Bulgarian history, which has many glorious pages, would easily “counterbalance” the Macedonian contribution to the Bulgarian freedom fight against the Ottoman rule during the 19th century.
The good relations between Macedonia and Bulgaria request further effort of normalisation, all the more as the two countries are now candidates for the EU.

[Truth Bearer]

Can any Bulgarian give us there opinion about the article??

[BG2007]

I'll comment on this only

Bulgaria is anxious to lose the core of its national identity if it recognises a separate Macedonian nationality.

This is complete non-sense. First there is no way we can lose the bulgarian history from Macedonia, no matter what those from Skopie write it always stays bulgarian and can't be changed. And second to say this part of our history is actually the core of our national identity is absolutely not true. Goce Delchev is considered to be a Bulgarian hero but he isn't the top Bulgarian hero and Tsar Samuil is considered a great Bulgarian Tsar but is not considered the greatest. Even if we remove (which we'll never do) that part of our history we will still have plenty of history, so it's not us who are afraid of losing our national identity but it's the skopians and I think everybody is well aware of that except this author. Besides we will never let our bulgarian history in the hands of non-bulgarians and anti-bulgarians. Will you Greeks give your history to people who will erase everything greek from it?

[edessa]

Originally Posted by BG2007

I'll comment on this only



This is complete non-sense. First there is no way we can lose the bulgarian history from Macedonia, no matter what those from Skopie write it always stays bulgarian and can't be changed. And second to say this part of our history is actually the core of our national identity is absolutely not true. Goce Delchev is considered to be a Bulgarian hero but he isn't the top Bulgarian hero and Tsar Samuil is considered a great Bulgarian Tsar but is not considered the greatest. Even if we remove (which we'll never do) that part of our history we will still have plenty of history, so it's not us who are afraid of losing our national identity but it's the skopians and I think everybody is well aware of that except this author. Besides we will never let our bulgarian history in the hands of non-bulgarians and anti-bulgarians. Will you Greeks give your history to people who will erase everything greek from it?

What do you think we've been fighting for the past 20 years?

[Christov]

Originally Posted by Truth Bearer

[b]Although the IMRO started its guerrilla activities in the name of the “Bulgarian nation”, one should not miss the fact that as early as 1905, the IMRO was split up into two major fractions. Jane Sandanski’s Seres Group aimed at the formation of an independent Macedonia and a single Macedonian identity (the Federalists), while Boris Sarafov’s fraction aimed at the incorporation of Macedonia into Bulgaria (the Centralists). In order to achieve his aim, Sandanski did not even hesitate to cooperate with the Young Turks. One can conclude that the Macedonians of today are descendants of Sandanski.

Both major fractions had as main object the incorporation of Macedonian's territory into Bulgaria. Their main differences were:
1. for or against participation of the Bulgarian Royal institutions.
2. whether or not it should go through a transitional autonomy.

Originally Posted by Truth Bearer

[b]That the Croatian and Serbian languages are very similar does not mean that these two nations are the same. One can easily multiply the examples: German and Dutch, Turkish and Azerbaijani, Rumanian and Moldavian, etc.

About the examples:
1. Don't agree - German and Dutch are 2 different languages. A better and more accurate example is the German language spoken in the 4 countries of Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Lichtenstein. They speak different dialects of 1 language.
2. Agree - Turkish and Azerbaijani languages reflects the situation of German-Dutch connection, so they are 2 different languages.
3. Don't agree - Rumanian and Moldavian is 1 language, simmilar to Serbo-Croat language.
About Bulgaria-FYROM: It's obvious there are 2 official norms of one and same language. Every linguistic norm gives preference to one linguistic region, ignoring the others. So the modern official Bulgarian norm is based on the Veliko Tarnovo region; the official linguistic norm in FYROM is based on the Prilep region. If we have to, we can develop 22 official norms, but it will not change the fact, that the language is only one. Otherwise, if we call a separate language every single dialect on the earth, can you immagine what number of languages we will have? It is against the very basic understanding of what "language" means.

[Truth Bearer]

On all levels of society, only one language is used in oral communication: "Lëtzebuergesch". This is the everyday spoken language of the people, and the symbol of the Luxembourgers national identity. Although of Germanic origin (around the 4th Century), 'Lëtzebuergesch' has sufficiently differentiated itself from its parent language, so as no longer to be readily understood by many a German. German native speakers might well recognise this or that word or construction used in Lëtzebuergesch -in the same way that a German from one region can 'understand' a dialect from another German region- but are often caught out by 'non-Germanic' words or turns of phrase.

[Truth Bearer]

I'm with Christov here....Racially the Dutch are of the Germanic race but then so are the English.Does that mean they are Germans?What is the answer here?Even more complex are the French.If are to assume that there are only 5 races in Europe(Celts,Romance/Latins,Germanics,Slavs and Greeks)the French are the only country that connects on all 3.France has taken it's name from the German tribes named Franks.The people though are considered Gauls thats Latin for Celts but the language though is Romance Latin.How does that work?

[mitko]

"OMO Ilinden" is illigal organisation sponsored by Serbian Goverment.
That`s all.

[Tsontos]

Why would the Serbs give a stuff about Pirin? Surely its far more likely to be sponsered by Skopje and the Skopjian diaspora. After its website is hosted in Canada by a Skopjian nationalist Bill Nicholov, the same guy who runs the "Macedonians in Albania" and "Macedonian Human Rights" websites:




The Serbs might have had something to do with the development of Macedonism 100 years ago but some of you Bulgarians are unrealistic claiming they still have some interest in promoting it even today.

[Sugarev]

Regarding the article I'd like to ask how come Greece recognized a separatistic political movement like "Vinozhito" and allows a self proclaimed priest representing the self proclaimed "Macedonian" Church to hold liturgies in a Greek village?
We still prohibit the so called United Macedonian Organization "Ilinden" and it recently split into UMO "Ilinden" and UMO "Ilinden - Pirin". As far as I know they have some influence in two villages in the region of Sandanski mostly settled with communists who left Greece in 1948.