“We will not change the history textbooks, but we will change the term ‘Bulgarian fascist occupiers’,” North Macedonia’s Prime Minister Zoran Zaev has announced as Bulgaria continues to insist Skopje correct its history books.
EU Enlargement Commissioner Olivér Várhelyi visited Skopje on Wednesday. The day before, he was in Sofia to find out whether Bulgaria is willing to reconsider dropping its veto on North Macedonia’s European integration, reported Euractiv on Thursday.
Bulgarian President Rumen Radev hinted that this is possible, but only if Skopje is ready for clear legally binding decisions that will lead to sustainable and irreversible results.
According to BGNES news agency, North Macedonia’s PM Zaev said: “Nowhere in Europe is the name of the nation mentioned. It is called only a fascist occupier. And in this spirit, the spirit of friendship, cooperation and good neighbourly relations, we expect this to happen. We have noticed certain weaknesses in Bulgarian textbooks. They are also ready to make changes because in this way a friendship is built”.
Zaev believes that in recent months the two countries have added to their friendship – notably because of the increase in trade and investments, visible cooperation between the institutions of both countries in that regard, as well as the constantly improving infrastructure between both countries.
The prime minister also said North Macedonia was prepared to let Bulgaria be the second state to police its airspace, as Greece is already North Macedonia’s first partner in that respect.
“The third thing that is very important is to prevent hate speech. First of all, the institutions themselves must make efforts to build friendship and not provoke hostility towards the monuments, which are numerous in both countries. Fascism should not have an ethnic definition”, Zaev stressed.
Bulgaria will hold both parliamentary and presidential elections on 14 November, meaning the earliest opportunity to warm ties with Skopje would be in early December.
However, such a move would need a stable government in Sofia, which does not seem likely.
