Visit of Bulgarian President to Macedonia

Doubts and anxiety

Visit of the Bulgarian President Petar Stojanov to Macedonia caused different comments and reactions of the Macedonian public. A step forward has been made, but many dilemmas remain.

AIM Skopje, May 18, 2000

Bulgarian President came to Skoplje on May 15, as the first president of that country to visit Macedonia since it won its independence. The importance attached to Stojanov's visit is best reflected in a large number of accredited journalists from Sofia, as well as from Macedonia. Only three years ago Stojanov was criticised for his statement that Macedonia was the "most romantic part of Bulgarian history".

That is why the national media thought it adequate to warn him to restrain himself from such affectionate statements in Skoplje and Ohrid; in other words, to behave himself! Not so long ago, at the times of Stockholm Conference on Holocaust the Bulgarian President had angered the Jewish community in Macedonia, media as well as some officials with his claims that his country deserved international credit for saving Jews during the last world war. Skoplje reminded him that the fascist regime in Sofia was precisely the one responsible for the death of 7 thousand Jews from Macedonia who (as it turned out) had paid the bill for their compatriots in Bulgaria. Moreover, the Jewish community in Macedonia thought that the Bulgarian state should pay $ 16 million worth damages for the property that had been confiscated from their killed relatives.

"There is no crisis in Macedonian - Bulgarian relations" said the Bulgarian President in his interview for the Skoplje weekly "Fokus" just before his departure for Skoplje. In this way Stojanov wanted to demonstrate his openness and show that he had no "ulterior motive" which suspicious hosts could accuse him of.

The Macedonian public opinion that in the past five decades was formed by one ideological media machinery cannot but fall prey to fear expressed in the old proverb: "the wolf may lose its teeth but never his nature". In other words, kings, secretaries general, presidents can come and go in Sofia, but the dream about Macedonia as a part of the Bulgarian national territory and the Macedonians as the "lost sheep", has never come true. The official policy of the previous Government, following in the footsteps of the policy pursued in the past half a century, distanced itself from all Governments that couldn't decide whether to recognise the Macedonian nation and the Macedonian language. The current coalition VMRO-DPMNE, Democratic Alternative, Democratic Party of Albanians - promoted a rather unclear policy of "positive energy", which is why critics maliciously note that too much energy is perhaps directed just one way - to Bulgaria.

In his interview given to the Macedonian Television before his trip, Stojanov said that "There was no relevant force in Bulgaria that could question the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Macedonia". Without hiding the fact that they were attaching a more or less historical importance to the visit even before it actually started, the Maceonian media expected accurate answers to a whole range of different questions. For example, why the Macedonians' organisation "Ilinden" had been banned in that country several months earlier. They warned him that he would have to tread very cautiously and adopt an even-handed attitude towards all his collocutors because the official Sofia is criticised for maintaining or, what is more sponsoring, only one Macedonian party - the ruling VMRO-DPMNE. Nevertheless, the guest was expected to show the greatest delicacy and diplomatic skill in questions regarding the Macedonian nation, language and history.

Presidents of the two countries - Boris Trajkovski and Petar Stojanov - signed a joint declaration whose text unambiguously confirms the support to UNMIK and KFOR missions in Kosovo and to their resolute steps aimed at preventing violence and towards democratisation of the Province. At the same time, they expressed concern over the problems encountered in the implementation of the UN Resolution 1244. The two Presidents pointed that lasting peace, stability and prosperity were possible only if greater-state and greater-nationalist concepts were relinquished and problems were resolved in a peaceful way through dialogue. Macedonia and Bulgaria stand ready, together with other neighbours, to create a new image of south-eastern Europe putting thus, into practice the common plans for Euro-Atlantic integration - states the Declaration.

Some Sofia papers have reproached the chief of Bulgarian state for signing such a declaration since Bulgaria is not threatened by the expansion of the Kosovo conflict and that it, therefore, represented a superfluous concession to the hosts. Some have maliciously concluded that in fear of the Greater-Albanian aspirations the Macedonians now expect Sofia's help.

His address to the press on Monday afternoon in the building of the Macedonian Parliament, Stojanov began in the Macedonian language: "Long live free and independent Macedonia", adding that he had come to develop relations between the two countries on equitable basis. Nine bilateral agreements were signed, of which the one regulating specific border issues is the most important one.

What would have been long ago be regulated in a civilised world, was for many years a problem in the Balkans. Namely, since Macedonia became independent until today two countries have prepared over 20 bilateral agreements, but their signing was postponed because it was impossible to find an adequate linguistic formula: Bulgaria does not recognise the Macedonian language and the Government in Skoplje refused to sign agreements in any other language. After Ljubco Georgijevski and his Government came into power in October 1998, the ice was broken last spring when the two sides agreed to sign all bilateral agreements in "languages which Constitutions of the two countries specify as the official ones". At first, the opposition labelled Georgijevski as "traitor". However, before long the young Prime Minister retorted that the formula applied was the same as the one that the fierce critics (the opposition Social-Democratic Alliance) themselves once proposed to Sofia.

Since one of the ideas that was repeatedly mentioned during Stojanov's visit to Macedonia, was the introduction of a border regime between the two countries which would enable their citizens to travel across the border without passports, and only with ID cards. This idea was at odds with the earlier announcements made by Bulgaria that it was planning to even introduce visa requirements for Macedonian citizens in order to abide by the requests of the European Union.

It sounds like a paradox, but at this point it is precisely those in Skoplje that should fear more liberal border trade since various routes of criminal activity currently go from the east to the west, and not the other way around. True, things could easily change when one day (presumably earlier than Macedonia) Bulgaria joins the so called "Schengen zone".

The journalists tried to make a big fuss about the scheduled talks between the President of Bulgaria, Petar Stojanov, and the former President of Macedonia, Kiro Gligorov, which never took place. This meeting was never held and the Sofia and Skoplje media had different interpretations as to the reasons why.

En route to Ohrid, Stojanov had an unplanned meeting in Tetovo on Tuesday with the leader of the Democratic Party of Albanians, Arben Xhaferi. The press never learned what the agenda of the meeting was, which was reason enough for the misgivings that have long been typical of the Macedonian media.

A part of the press in Skoplje observed that the Bulgarian President failed to take the opportunity, as the first chief of state to arrive in Skoplje, to apologise to the Macedonian people for the crimes committed by Bulgarian fascists in the territory of this country during the last world war. He could have made amends had he gone to the village of Vatasha where the Bulgarians had committed one of the most heinous crimes against the Macedonian people, the press argued. Not to kneel down as Willy Brandt had done, but only to lay down a flower wreath on the monument.

The President of Bulgaria completed his two-day visit to Macedonia in Ohrid. Despite strong police presence, a number of citizens of Ohrid loudly and sincerely welcomed Stojanov expressing their pro-Bulgarian feelings - almost all non-governmental media noted down diligently. These Ohrid denizens claimed that they were proud of their Bulgarian origins, although there are officially no Bulgarians in Macedonia. This event will quite certainly provoke many more reactions than certain other aspects of the visit itself.

Interestingly, the opposition Social-Democratic Alliance practically did not even mention Stojanov's visit. Looking for answers to such "disinterest" of the until-yesterday most zealous critics of Bulgaria, analysts came to the conclusion that two motives might be in question: first, the Social-Democratic Alliance might have assessed that its consistent playing on the "anti-Bulgarian" card, first at parliamentary and then at presidential elections, has finally become "old-fashioned".

Second, the largest opposition party has made intensive preparations for the anti-Governmental rally announced for May 18 which, according to the expectations of the Social-Democratic Alliance but of also othr opposition parties as well, could mark the beginning of the end of current authorities. In short, all who have expected the visit of the Bulgarian President to turn into a scandal or something similar - were disappointed. AIM Skopje

Zeljko Bajic

(AIM)