"Common History" or "Shared History"? Progress and Lack of in Bulgarian-North Macedonian Commission, May 2022

After some progress in bilateral meetings was reported in April, now the Bulgarian co-chair declared the opposite to be true. One sticking point is conceptual difference over what history they are dealing with: while Bulgarians prefer"common history" whereas North Macedonians prefer "shared history." "The problem is that our colleagues are trying not to accept the term ‘common history.’When you do not accept the existence of a historical phenomenon that is even described in the Good Neighbour Agreement, because they are not talking about ‘common history’ but ‘shared history’, then there is an escape from the desire to make a serious critical analysis of one's own past. And this is the big problem." - pointed out Prof. Angel Dimitrov.  Read more here

Read the April story here.

Bulgaria, North Macedonia Fail to Move History Dispute Forward

A two-day meeting in Skopje of the joint history commission between neighboring North Macedonia and Bulgaria, failed to make much progress on their disputes over the Macedonian language, jointly claimed heroes and shared history. Read more.

Bulgaria – N. Macedonia joint commission on historical and educational issues holds first meeting

On November 5, 2019, the joint commission of scholars from Bulgaria and the Republic of N. Macedonia has held its first meeting, with Bulgarian Foreign Minister Ekaterina Zaharieva calling on participants to establish a spirit of trust “and even have arguments”.

The commission is intended to come up with an objective interpretation of historical events and how they are narrated in the textbooks of the two countries. It is required to present an annual report to the two governments on its work.