Less than a year after the signing of the friendship and cooperation agreement between Bulgaria and North Macedonia we are seeing signs of strain in the relations between the two countries.

On 9 June Deputy Prime Minister Krasimir Karakachanov expressed concern, saying that North Macedonia was only using Bulgaria to enter the EU and NATO. In his words the joint interministerial commission for overcoming the differences on historical issues between Bulgaria and North Macedonia is not functioning, and if that continues, then the delegation of Bulgaria should leave the negotiating table with all consequences this may entail for the Euro-Atlantic integration of North Macedonia.

The purpose of the joint Bulgaria-North Macedonia multidisciplinary expert commission on historical and educational issues was for the historical controversies between the two countries to be overcome by historians, not politicians from the two countries. What we are seeing one year after it was established is that accord being reached on questions from prehistory and antiquity, though not on issues from modern history. And that brings politicians back into play.

On 11 June the Bulgarian side of the commission flatly rejected the Macedonian proposal to honour, jointly, the memory of Gotse Delchev, a historical figure shared by the two countries, on 7 October. Foreign Minister Ekaterina Zaharieva commented that the date chosen to celebrate him is absurd, as it is the date on which, under pressure from Stalin, Georgi Dimitrov had Gotse Delchev’s bones sent to Skopje. A prominent Bulgarian historian called this proposal made by Skopje “effrontery and a provocation”.

On June 24, from Brussels, where he was taking part in the European Council meeting, at which the date for the start of EU accession negotiations with North Macedonia was postponed, Prime Minister Boyko Borissov stated that to be given a date for the launch of EU accession negotiations, Macedonians need to “mature”. The prime minister, who is also leader of the ruling GERB party, said that to argue whether Gotse Delchev is Bulgarian or Macedonian is petty, and warned that if this questions remains on the agenda, the opposition will constantly be asking him what the historical commission is doing.

The nationalist party Ataka, which is part of the ruling coalition, has already proposed that parliament mandate the prime minister to prepare an annex to the treaty of friendship, good neighbourhood and cooperation between Bulgaria and North Macedonia. Ataka wants all parliamentary groups to state their position on this proposal.

Reacting to everything that is happening, in an interview for MIA, the President of North Macedonia Stevo Pendarovski stated that in the past few weeks Bulgaria has been critical with regard to the treaty of friendship and cooperation with North Macedonia. He acknowledged that Gotse Delchev described himself as being Bulgarian, and VMRO party in Bulgaria welcomed these words as a major breakthrough “after years of falsified theft of history”.

The reaction by PM Zaev also sounded constructive when he said that “there exists a friendship agreement and that means that we must accept the fact that part of our history is shared (between the two countries)… I am sure that we shall find a solution to this question currently being debated in society.”

The reactions on the Macedonian side indicate that the skies over bilateral relations are not overcast at this point, what we are seeing is political pressure by Sofia for the strict observance, by Skopje, of the treaty of good neighbourhood. The pressure comes three months before the October meeting of the European Council which is expected to relaunch the topic of opening accession negotiations with North Macedonia.