Persistent historical tensions between the two NATO countries. The question of Skopje’s membership in the European Union. The Russians are used to acting as masters in Bulgaria, thanks to the control exercised by their security services.
Moscow () – Behind the recent disputes between Bulgaria and North Macedonia, two NATO countries, many see the hand of the Kremlin.
On February 4, a large group of Bulgarian citizens attempted to cross the Macedonian border to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the death of their revolutionary hero, Gotse Delčev, who inspired the uprisings against the Ottoman Empire. After several hours of blockade, which left more than 200 people in a neutral zone between the borders, and some violent confrontations, the authorities arrested the most angry protesters.
Another episode had previously occurred in the Macedonian city of Okhrid, when the secretary of a Bulgarian cultural center, 21-year-old Kristian Pendikov, was violently attacked “for reasons of nationalist hatred”, the local prosecutor later stated. The young man was admitted to a Sofia hospital in a very serious condition.
Commenting on this episode before the Security Council, Macedonian President Stevo Pendarovski said that the Russian secret services are behind this “anti-state campaign”. They would be manipulating some “organized structures” in the country to exacerbate tensions between North Macedonia and Bulgaria. ”.
However, the far-right Bulgarian MEP Angel Džambazki, who calls his neighbors “temporary administrators of our Macedonia”, accused Macedonians of constantly attacking and offending their compatriots. In his opinion, Skopje simultaneously expresses positions of “Nazism, Fascism and Bolshevism, and for this reason we must veto Macedonia’s entry into the European Union.”
Macedonian Foreign Minister Bujar Osmani has also added fuel to the fire in recent days, speaking of “third parties interested in maintaining a permanent conflict situation in the region.” When journalists asked him to name names, he replied “the Russian Federation.”
The disputes between the two neighbors have been going on for many years and have been exacerbated especially since 2004, when the Macedonians applied to join the EU. After long disputes with the Greeks, they agreed to add the title “of the North” to leave a part of the Macedonian identity to the Greek region of Thessaloniki. Subsequently, Sofia presented in 2019 the claim that the language spoken in the country, which it considers a Bulgarian dialect, should not be called “Macedonian”, and that the presence of the Bulgarians, allies of the Nazis, in this territory.
The European Commission forced acceptance of the “French formula” of compromise, including in the Macedonian Constitution the reference to the “Bulgarian minority” present in the country, which allowed Sofia’s veto to be lifted. However, the integration does not advance much due to the continuous outbreaks of protest on both sides. In the demonstrations in Okhrid, both Dimitar Apasiev, leader of the Macedonian pro-Russian Levitsa movement, and the opposition leader Kristian Mitskoski, who proposes “annulling the friendship agreement with Bulgaria,” gained public notoriety.
Pendarovski also speaks of “hybrid threats” from Russia in recent years. At the last forum in Davos he renewed the accusations against the Kremlin. Macedonia unreservedly adhered to all sanctions against Russia from day one, imposing entry visas on Russians and closing airspace to Moscow, along with Bulgaria and Montenegro. This infuriated the Russian leadership, especially when even Foreign Minister Lavrov’s plane was rejected.
Russia accuses the EU of not being able to defend its members and allies, and of “sweeping its identity and ethnic problems under the rug”, repeatedly citing the Bulgarian-Macedonian dispute as an example of the situation between Russians and Ukrainians. The Russians are used to acting as masters in Bulgaria thanks to the entrenchment of their security services, a situation that the Bulgarians themselves do not like, although they are not able to control it either, leaving a crack open in the heart of the Balkans.
