I was walking down the street in Washington DC when I heard behind me people talking in Bulgarian. There are many Bulgarians in the USA, but still I feel happy to hear Bulgarian speech in a foreign country. I turned back and said with excitement "I am also a Bulgarian." They looked at me with amazement and almost with hatred and said, "We are not Bulgarians. We are Macedonians..."

Bulgarian Claims

Traditional costume from Pirin Mountain

In 1991 Bulgaria recognized the existence of a Macedonian state, but not the existence of a Macedonian identity or a Macedonian language. Bulgarians consider their language a dialect of Bulgarian, and accordingly the Macedonian people Bulgarians. The idea of a Macedonian identity was artificially created in the second half of the 19th century and actively used throughout the 20th century to fulfill the territorial claims of some of the other neighboring countries. The Carnegie paper named “Report of the International Commission to inquire into the Causes of the Balkan Wars” from 1914 calls the term “Slav-Macedonian” “a euphemism designed to conceal the existence of Bulgarians in Macedonia.” At the time when Macedonia was a republic of Yugoslavia there were even severe punishments for anyone claiming Bulgarian heritage. Whole generations of people were brought up with this new history and identity and refuse to accept other points of view. Macedonian history is often overlapping not with the Serbian, not with the Greek, but with the Bulgarian history for the simple reason that they all belong to the same nation. In one sentence, the Bulgarian point of view is,

"If we have the same language, the same history and the same Slavic blood, aren’t we the same nation?“

Home

Pirin Mountain in Bulgaria is part of the ethnic map of “Macedonia”. People there usually describe themselves first as Macedonians meaning that they come from this particular area and then as Bulgarians meaning that they belong to a particular nation. One of the most popular folk songs originates from Pirin Mountain and is called “Macedonian Girl” (“Makedonsko Devoiche”). It describes the beauty of the Macedonian maiden, but for most Bulgarians it refers to the beauty of the Bulgarian woman in general. For many people it is a symbol of the unrealized Bulgarian dream of the unification of the nation, which was made impossible due to the territorial claims from other countries and their political propaganda.

For a link to the song Click here and for an English translation of the lyrics Click Here

Map of Macedonia

History of Macedonia

Bulgarian Claims

Dispute with Greece

Serbian Influences

Macedonian Point of View

Conclusion

Pirin Mountain or Bulgarian Macedonia is famous for its beautiful nature. Some of the crystal clean lakes and springs are here. Edelweiss (see picture to the left) is one of the rarest and prettiest European plants. It grows high up in Pirin Mountain. It is protected by the law.

% of Total Population	Ethnic Group(1992)
66.6%	Slav Macedonian
22.7%	ethnic Albanians
4%	Turks
2.2%	Roma
2.1%	Serbs
2.4%	other minorities

“Some of our historians and writers have attempted to adopt, with regard to some events and questions of our history, not a scientific approach, but, so to say, a current political approach. I consider this to be profoundly erroneous not only with regard to history but also in relation to our policy…It is probable that many of our ancestors considered themselves Bulgarians, Greeks, or Serbians. There is no need to pass over this in silence or to be ashamed because of it…”

Lazar Kolisevski, the president of the People's Assembly, 1959

Lazar Kolisevski

Criticism to the Bulgarian Claims

The Bulgarians should recognize the right of every nation of self-determination. If the Macedonian people think that they are not Bulgarians and want their own state, then they should have it. In addition, they need to accept that the ethnic character has changed a lot in Macedonia since the 1920s. Many Greeks came to Macedonia after the Greek-Turkish War and later many Albanians entered Macedonia especially after the conflict in Kosovo.