Velizar Enchev to FACTI: Inclusion of Bulgarians in the RSM constitution is only one of the conditions for EU membership

The decision of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the European Parliament on the readiness for the membership of the Republic of North Macedonia in the EU has caused a lot of comments in Bulgaria. Even a number of analysts have described this as a shame for our foreign policy. Have our politicians betrayed the national cause… Velizar Enchev, Ambassador of Bulgaria to the Republic of Croatia (1997-2002), Doctor of International Relations and International Law, spoke to FACTI.

- Mr. Enchev, how do you view the decision of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the European Parliament on the readiness for the membership of the Republic of North Macedonia in the EU. The decision has caused a lot of comments…
- The statements of Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov that the inclusion of Bulgarians in the Macedonian constitution is a fundamental issue and that “… Bulgaria will not set any different conditions and turn the process into a bilateral one“, as well as the words of our Foreign Minister that “we have no new conditions for the European integration of North Macedonia“ cause not just bewilderment, but serious concern.

- Because…
- Because the inclusion of Bulgarians in the Constitution of North Macedonia is not the end, but the start of the process. This is only one of the conditions specified in the so-called “French proposal“ and the negotiating framework, which marks the beginning of a long and complex process. It is necessary, but far from sufficient.

- Another big issue is the change of texts in history textbooks in North Macedonia. Will this ever happen?
- Why not? This is simply the other big condition and very important - the change of history textbooks in the Republic of North Macedonia. The real battle for memory, for facts, for identity is being fought there.
Bulgaria cannot accept that in the 21st century, the textbooks of a European country continue to suggest that:
- The Bulgarian Tsar Samuil is a “Macedonian Tsar“;
- The Miladinovi brothers are “Macedonians“, and their work “Bulgarian Folk Songs“ is called “Macedonian Folk Songs“;
- Bulgarian revolutionaries Gotse Delchev, Yane Sandanski and dozens of other Bulgarian voivodes are “ethnic Macedonians“, having nothing to do with Bulgaria;
- Bulgarian poet Nikola Vaptsarov is a “Macedonian poet“;
- Bulgaria in the 20th century was a “fascist occupier“
This is not just a historiographical dispute. This is a purposeful replacement, embedded in the educational system, building the national identity of North Macedonia on an anti-Bulgarian basis.

- But how can we change this, how can we influence the people of North Macedonia to change this?
- Bulgaria has every right to insist on different things and defend them at the interstate level. Here are some examples:
- clearing away lies and falsifications in the educational process;
- recognition of the historical truth and the Bulgarian contribution to the cultural history of the region;
- cessation of hate speech against Bulgaria in the media, institutions and official rhetoric;
- real protection of people with Bulgarian identity, who continue to be marginalized, insulted, threatened and judged, just because they feel Bulgarian.
These demands are not abstract. They stem from specific documents to which North Macedonia has made commitments and which must be monitored in the process of European integration. I will give you examples.
Here are the legal obligations of the Republic of North Macedonia, which it has undertaken in accordance with documents and treaties:
- Inclusion of Bulgarians in the Constitution (Negotiating Framework (EU, 2022) - French proposal)
- Changing history textbooks (Good Neighborhood Agreement with Bulgaria (2017), protocols to the treaty, work of the Joint Historical Commission
- Ending hate speech (Annual reports of the EC, Good Neighborhood Agreement with Bulgaria)
- Guaranteeing the rights of Bulgarians in the Republic of North Macedonia (European Charter of Human Rights, Treaty with Bulgaria (Article 11)
- Implementation of the Prespa Treaty (EU requirement related to Greece)
All this clearly shows that Bulgaria has the legal grounds to insist on and strictly monitor the implementation of all these commitments, and not only about the inclusion of Bulgarians in the Macedonian constitution.

- And what do you think of Prime Minister Zhelyazkov's words that “Bulgaria will not turn the process into a bilateral one…“?
- Part of the agreements with Skopje are bilateral, which makes Prime Minister Zhelyazkov's statement absurd. In essence, the contractual process along the Sofia-Skopje line is bilateral, and the EU is in the role of an arbitrator. Refusal of the bilateral negotiation process is a refusal of the agreement to revise the textbooks and curricula in primary and secondary education in the Republic of Macedonia. And if you yourself refuse the bilateral process, what help can you expect from the arbitrator when you ask Skopje to correct its textbooks? Bulgaria needs such a historical revision, as Greece achieved with the Prespa Agreement (2018), forcing Skopje to refuse the so-called. antiquarianization of Macedonian history, in which the ancient Greeks Philip and Alexander the Great were “Skopje Macedonians“.

- And what could be the role of the EC here?
- In the annual progress reports of the Republic of Macedonia, the European Commission monitors the implementation of the agreements with both Bulgaria and Greece, including issues of history, education, hate speech and minority rights. If the European Union holds on to its own principles - the rule of law, human rights and good neighborliness, it cannot turn a blind eye to what North Macedonia does not implement. Because even now, an EU candidate country like North Macedonia preaches a falsified national narrative in school history textbooks and thus raises generations in a spirit of anti-Bulgarian hatred. Therefore, we have no right to renounce the contractual obligations assumed by Skopje - to revise the content of history textbooks and to renounce hate speech. There is no true good neighborliness without recognition of historical truth and without refusal to appropriate the Bulgarian cultural and historical heritage from the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. If Prime Minister Zhelyazkov and Foreign Minister Georgiev do not understand this, let them speak on their own behalf, not on behalf of Bulgaria.