The Macedonians got along easier with the Greeks because they are not relatives
The Greeks are not related to them and hence the difference in our approach to our relations with the Republic of Northern Macedonia. This was stated to Bulgarian National Radio by Prof. Kiril Topalov, member of the Interdepartmental Commission on Historical and Educational Issues.
“We are about two million descendants of former revolutionaries and refugees from former Macedonia. So they are our relatives. It is inevitable for us to go through all the twists and turns of diplomatic relations and try to convince our cousins there that they must recognize this. which is also fixed in the Treaty that we had a common history until 1944, when we were one people with one language, he noted.
According to him, Greece’s approach was to set conditions for Skopje – to give up its ancient false past and change its name, because Macedonia is a concept to which Athens has great claims – and they have not dealt with it anymore.
30 years later, the Macedonians came to the door of Greece, gave up the ancient past, changed their name and Greece said that from now on we will give you “ok”, Topalov explained the situation.
He stressed that Bulgaria does not want much from the RNM – just to abide by the Neighborhood Agreement. “We take for granted the state, created artificially after 1944, a false state, but it exists. But we just want them not to distort history, “the historian explained.
He expressed the opinion that in the new Bulgarian government some may have a different opinion on the topic of RNM and think whether the issue they should admit is so important.
It is very important, because if they do not admit it, we, the Bulgarians, lose our identity, Topalov was categorical. According to him, it is not bad to convene the CIS on the topic with the president.
He pointed out that we may have unresolved political conflicts with the RNM and develop business with them. However, there were indications that they did not want to develop business with Bulgaria, but wanted to be allowed into the EU.
Topalov said the information about the enormous pressure on Bulgaria was greatly exaggerated.
“If the EU wants us to release the RNM at any cost, to change the rules. And when it changes the rules, to release whoever it wants, but as long as there are rules, no one can make Bulgaria unless the fortress surrenders from within, but I don’t see any indications that he will surrender, “he said.
Opposition leader in northern Macedonia Christian Mickoski has called for Macedonians to be included in the Bulgarian Constitution if Sofia requests that Bulgarians be included in the RNM Constitution, BGNES reported.
“We will have open relations with our neighbors. We have always been in favor of good relations with our neighbors, but in strict compliance with the principle of reciprocity. then they have to do the same “, said Mickoski, who gave an interview to the state television MRT.
We are fully aware of the fact that there are radical structures on the political scene in some of our neighbors who use and abuse nationalism, said the Macedonian leader of VMRO-DPMNE. According to him, they have a very negative and at times hegemonic rhetoric towards Macedonia. For this reason, he called for reciprocity.
“As the saying goes, love takes two. If we get their respect, then they will have ours. But if we don’t get respect – that I didn’t exist in a certain historical period, or that I was different and spoke differently. language, they want to destroy my culture, traditions, customs, which have been passed down from grandmother to grandson for centuries, these are not good neighborly relations, “said the opposition leader.
He said that after Bulgaria opened the request for the registration of the Bulgarians from the RNM in the Macedonian Constitution, then Skopje has the right to ask Sofia to change its Constitution and register the Macedonians from Bulgaria, for which he has been sentenced by the Court of Rights. of the people of Strasbourg and for which a resolution was adopted in the European Parliament stating that they have the right to their own culture, the preservation of their customs.
“If they want us to change the Constitution, then they should be so kind as to change theirs. This is the real reciprocity,” Mickoski said.
According to him, it was better to talk about “building a railway connection, highway, economic cooperation, tourism, and not about Gotse Delchev, the Ilinden Uprising or the organization established in Thessaloniki in 1893, whose first congress was in the town of Resen “. Why talk about it at all, he wondered.
