Bulgaria will let Macedonia into the EU if it forgets its language and Bulgarian fascists
The Bulgarian government and parliament have adopted demands that, if met, will allow North Macedonia to approve the process of starting negotiations on accession to the EU.
Skopje is required to abandon the concept of “Macedonian language”, “Macedonian diaspora in Bulgaria” and remove the term “Bulgarian fascist occupiers” from all monuments.
The Bulgarian government published its twenty conditions for Macedonia, which are more like ultimatums, yesterday, reports a PolitNavigator correspondent.
They say that if they are not implemented, then Sofia will block the meeting of the foreign ministers of the EU member states scheduled for October 15, with which the process of integration of North Macedonia into the European Union should begin.
In particular, the document begins with such categorical formulations as “Bulgaria will not allow the integration of Macedonia into the EU to be accompanied by European legitimacy that supports the state ideology on an anti-Bulgarian basis” and “rewrites the history of part of the Bulgarian people (meaning the Macedonians - ed.) after 1944 year, which is one of the pillars of the anti-Bulgarian ideological structure of Yugoslav totalitarianism.”
The note from the Bulgarian government also states that the joint historical commission of Bulgaria and North Macedonia should give a comprehensive assessment of historical figures and events, but in a manner beneficial to Sofia. For example, regarding the hero of the anti-Turkish uprising Gotse Delchev, the rebel organization VMRO, which fought both the Turks and the Yugoslav administration, the legendary first anti-Turkish Inlinden uprising.
Based on this verdict, “politicians, representatives of state institutions in North Macedonia, as well as state-funded media” will have to “formulate their statements” from now on. In addition, the Bulgarian government demands that the concept of “Macedonian language” should not appear anywhere in EU documents, but only “the official language of the Republic of North Macedonia.”
Sofia also wants a lustration process against former employees of the Yugoslav special services who stopped the penetration of Bulgarian influence into this once Yugoslav republic, and the removal of the wording “Bulgarian fascist occupier” from all monuments and memorial plaques (Bulgaria’s alliance with the Third Reich in the 40s spurred the process of forming a special Macedonian identity among local Bulgarians, most of whom supported the communist anti-fascist resistance).
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In turn, today the National Assembly of Bulgaria, with 129 votes, four against and one abstention, adopted a declaration allowing Macedonia and Albania to begin negotiations on accession to the European Union.
“Bulgaria supports the start of negotiations between the Republic of North Macedonia and Albania with the European Union. This should not be seen as a guarantee of EU membership, but as an incentive to speed up reforms, strengthen the rule of law and maintain good neighborly relations. Support for European integration should not damage historical events, documents and artifacts, nor distort the role and position of figures in Bulgarian history,” says the final document of the Bulgarian parliament.
It is clear that the parliamentary decision was not without ultimatum statements towards Skopje. In particular, Bulgarian parliamentarians demanded that the Macedonians “stop hate speech against Bulgaria and citizens of the Republic of North Macedonia with Bulgarian identity”, demanded that they refuse to recognize the fact that the Macedonian diaspora lives in Bulgaria, and also demanded that they undertake the restoration and maintenance of Bulgarian graves in the country - Ironically, this paragraph is talking primarily about Bulgarian collaborators during the Second World War.
Bulgaria will allow Macedonia into the EU if it forgets its language and Bulgarian fascists.