Bulgarian Policy in Macedonia : the silent issue.

Ever since the collapse of the Warsaw pact and the disintegration of Yugoslavia the issue of Bulgarian involvement in the FYROM has been an enigma. Officially Bulgaria has renounced all claims to its lost territories from past wars in particular : Dobruje (in Romania), Greek Macedonia and Vardar Macedonia (in FYROM). In return Bulgaria has gained official status in the European Union and received considerable foreign investment.

This Faustian deal however comes at a price however. The Bulgarian government has been painfully silent on its support of the Bulgarian minorities living in these former territories. There does not seem to be any Bulgarian parliamentary parties in either Greece, FYROM or Romania. Yet on the other hand the small Turkish minority in Bulgaria enjoys (albeit just recently) full civil rights and access to their own political party. Turkish and Jewish minorities have religious and cultural rights and associations. Yet Bulgarian groups in Greece and FYROM suffer from cultural, religious and linguistic repression. Considering that Greece is an EU member and FYROM is slated for membership in 2010 this is blatantly unfair and undemocratic.

Bulgaria’s former position as a powerless satellite of the Soviet Union makes it somewhat politically unprepared for the realities of its new position in the Balkans as a major player. Centrally located and untouched by terrorism or warfare Bulgaria is a stabilizing force in the region. Yet instead of capitalizing on its position by demanding that FYROM and Greece allow Bulgarians access to cultural, religious and political outlets in their countries Bulgaria remains deafly silent. To date the only action Bulgaria has taken to support Bulgarians abroad is to issue passports to Bulgarians in war torn FYROM. To date even the number of issued passports is a state secret, conceivably so as not to antagonize the nationalistic Macedonian element in FYROM. Furthermore the possibility exists that Bulgaria desperately wants its infrastructure rebuilt and foreign investment capital secured before making any political moves in the Balkans. Or it could be that Bulgarias national leadership is deathly afraid of losing even yet again in the international area, which has been most unkind to Bulgaria throughout its history.

Yet there is little excuse to maintain the status quo with regards to the Bulgarians abroad, the infrastructure program is progressing at a rapid rate, foreign investment is flowing into the country and Bulgaria is emerging as one of the more stable countries in the region.

One thing is certain, Bulgaria’s forgotten nationals have been left out to dry for to long, should this situation carry on for much longer it would give the Bulgarian secret service cart blanche to operate in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. While the main focus of European concern has been the Macedono-Albanian conflict, there have been several incidents of aggression and discrimination towards Bulgarians in the region. Not only has Bulgaria a right to protect its nationals abroad but some would so it has a duty. With indifference from the European community this can only result in a return to cold war policy and espionage on a smaller scale. Surely this is not what was envisioned by the EU community. Trying to suppress minority identities while offering EU membership on the other hand can only lead to more fiascos of the Yugoslavian nature. Now is the time for the Bulgarian government to remedy the situation by applying political and diplomatic pressure on those other “EU” nations and forcing them to live up to the requirements of the EU charter and the anti-discrimination clauses.

Gosho Mladenoff LLB.