North Macedonia is heading towards its Yugoslav past. This was stated by the Chairman of the Joint Commission on Historical Affairs Prof. Angel Dimitrov to the BNR in a comment on the elections, after which VMRO-DPMNE triumphantly returned to power in North Macedonia.
"The most banal metaphor is that it is at a crossroads - politically. The intersection is not such a scary thing, because from there you can see well in different directions. But when they turn to the wrong direction and not only turn there, but despite the fact that they give you enough signals from well-intentioned people - not only Bulgaria, but also the signals that come from the EU - that this is not the direction - then there is something that creates quite a serious concern, and not only because of our bilateral relations.
It is worrying that today's Republic of North Macedonia seems to be trying to attach itself to the Belgrade axis - from there one way to Moscow, one way when it comes to Europe only - to Hungary and Orban. We must not forget that, in addition to the great Serbian influence, which has not disappeared for decades, that Hungary has strong economic ties and presence in North Macedonia and even owns the television of the now ruling VMRO-DPMNE party. There is an interesting connection there that is already creating a more serious cause for concern for regional security," he explained.
In his words, the loss of the Social Democratic Union is catastrophic. To some extent, he attributes this to the unconvincing presence after Zaev replaced Kovacevsky as party leader, as well as popular discontent:
"There are many different attitudes among people, but the main one is the unenviable political culture. High results are not necessarily an expression of understanding of the ideas that the winning party is promoting, but rather punitive towards the other party or simply a submission to the emotional wave they create in the pre-election environment. And the Republic of North Macedonia lived in an election struggle for the last 2 years".
In his words, everything in North Macedonia is somehow like a "double bottom".
"In our country, from the very beginning, and even before the 1990s, historians began to break taboo topics, while there it is difficult to see such processes," comments Prof. Dimitrov.
He emphasized that the Joint Commission on Historical Issues is the only functioning body established under the Treaty of Friendship and Good Neighborliness. The commission has been working for almost 6 years now, but there is no progress. According to him, his Macedonian colleagues are put in a very unpleasant situation:
"Combining faith with helplessness - never leads to good results. They are put in such a situation".
According to him, there is not a single document that supports the Macedonian position.
However, according to him, our policy is not consistent, effective and representative enough. In the last 4-5 years, Bulgaria has lost even what it had achieved as a position in the EU and especially in the region, according to Prof. Dimitrov. In his words, we must be critical of everything, and especially of ourselves, if we want to achieve results.