The issues related to the content of the Macedonian history textbooks on the Middle Ages and the early Ottoman period will be on the table at 11th meeting of the North Macedonia-Bulgaria joint commission on historical and educational issues, set to take place on Thursday and Friday.
At the previous meeting, recommendations for the Bulgarian textbooks for these periods were reviewed and adopted, the commission sources told MIA.
The topic on possible joint celebration of Goce Delchev will also be discussed at the meeting that will be held online due to the COVID-19 situation, the commission said.
One day prior to the meeting, the co-chairs of the commission, North Macedonia’s Dragi Gjorgiev and Bulgarian’s Angel Dimitrov presented different opinions on the latest developments in the Skopje-Sofia relations.
Angel Dimitrov told Bulgarian TV broadcaster BNT that politicians and historians have different interests.
“Politicians in both countries want progress, but Macedonian historians are doing everything in their power to block it,” Dimitrov said.
He said he was worriedly awaiting the commission meeting and voiced hope that they would make at least one small step forward.
“We always wanted to meet more often, but that didn’t happen. Next year, the commission is scheduled to hold only five meetings, which is not enough,” noted Dimitrov, who is also a former Bulgarian Ambassador to North Macedonia.
He stressed that this approach delays the possibility of dispute resolution in the near future.
On the other side, Gjorgiev, told Radio Free Europe, that he was surprised by the statement of his colleague, who, among other things, said that the Bulgarian position is unique and politically monolithic, unlike the Macedonian one.
“I’m surprised by the strong political statement of my colleague, a member of an academic and expert commission, ahead of the new meeting. The stance on monolithic political position in relation to the views of the past is like an echo of another time. It is also academically unacceptable to arrange our work with political demands and views,” Gjorgiev said.
At the last meeting held in October in Skopje, Macedonian and Bulgarian historians failed to make much progress in relation to Goce Delchev, although new ideas and suggestions about his life and work were put on the table.
“There are slight advancements and this is important at this time. The process of discussions continues, including all difficulties and sensitive topics on the table. I urge for patience and more empathy for us and our Bulgarian colleagues, so that issues are debated with less emotions and tensions. This is the only way to overcome issues,” Gjorgiev said then after the two-day meeting.
Dimitrov said then that he expected responsible behavior towards the historical facts in order to achieve a situation in which there will be no more problems.
The joint commission’s meeting in October was the first in 2020. In June, the joint commission held a video conference discussing content of the minutes from its ninth meeting.
The North Macedonia-Bulgaria joint commission on historical and educational issues has so far made progress in relation to ancient history and the Middle Ages, but no agreement on the Goce Delchev issue.
So far, within a period of two years, the commission has already proposed that governments celebrate together Ss. Cyril and Methodius, St. Clement, St. Naum and Czar Samuel.
It has also made recommendations on antiquity as presented in fifth-grade textbooks in Bulgaria and sixth-grade textbooks in North Macedonia’s educational system.
