1 The relations with Bulgaria are entering a new phase – a poetically romantic one. The visit of the new Bulgarian Prime Minister Kiril Petkov began with the statement by the new Macedonian Prime Minister Dimitar Kovachevski that this is the “first big step”, and ended with the euphoric Facebook post by the new Deputy Prime Minister for European Integration Bojan Marichic “with our arms wide open and a cordial greeting…”
That much poetry is actually the reason why we’ve stooped to such a low level. Zaev too was euphoric since 2017. He kept hugging with Borisov, having photos taken in front of monuments, trying to speak Bulgarian on their TV channels, flattering them by calling them “brothers, sisters, friends, neighbours…”. And, there it is – eventually Bulgaria put an end to his political career.
One thing’s for sure – we are not brothers. Screw a brotherhood like that one. Brothers don’t do to each other what Bulgaria is doing to us now. The most we can try at the moment is to be friends.
Prime Minister Kovachevski too spoke of Petkov as a friend. How come they’re friends, considering they’re meeting for the first time in their life? Just because a Bulgarian Prime Minister comes smiling and hugs without a face mask, it doesn’t mean it’s friendship as long as he’s coming to accomplish what’s written in the nationalist document of their Assembly and as long as he’s skilfully avoiding to mention “Macedonian language”.
We would’ve been friends if the EU accession talks had started a year ago and if during opening the chapters we launched new flights, opened new border crossings, crossed the borders easily, built railways… we’d be negotiating in Brussels, and not bragging that we’ve formed working groups that will stroll around, crossing Deve Bair every week. There would be no need to blabber that we won’t attack Bulgaria – a note to the UN, the short name, the long name, and to present that as a huge success on our path to the EU.
We would be friends if we used the EU accession funds together, not like this, with blackmails.
Petkov was praised for “sending good signals” as the new Bulgarian Prime Minister. We no longer fall for Bulgaria’s signals. There’s only one good signal – let them lift the veto on Macedonia. And the big step Kovachevski is talking about will be real when Macedonia starts the EU accession talks.
Kovacevski calls himself a realistic optimist. I wouldn’t even be a cautious optimist. I would just be cautious.
2 Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama, for an interview with the Financial Times, summarized in one sentence what is happening in his and in our country: “Today, the problem isn’t the Balkan nationalism, but the EU nationalisms.”
We, here in the Balkans, have been speaking of European values for thirty years. We listened to them attentively. We did what they told us. We rolled out the red carpet for them, we gave them silver butterflies as gifts, they told us jokes about Sibelius, they moved our watch back, they harassed us at their consulates and at the border crossings…
Where are all those who for thirty years kept telling us to look to the future, but are now forcing us to project our future on values from the nineteenth century? We’re confused. What are the European values now? Are European values the Bulgarian ones, the Hungarian ones, the Polish ones…? There are too many.
When Federica Mogherini and Johannes Hahn were photographed at the signing of the Prespa Agreement, were they here unofficially just to have a walk or to represent the European Union? Said EU is now trampling on its own values, on top of that in a country which is extremely vulnerable, and is making excuses that “such were the decision-making rules”. It’s not like they didn’t know the rules when they lied to Zaev that we’d get a date for the accession talks.
Wasn’t changing the name of the state humiliating enough? How much more humiliation can a nation endure in a unit of time?
3 Let the new Deputy Prime Minister Bojan Marichic continue with the statements that it’s not for us to say whether there is a Macedonian minority in Bulgaria. Let Petkov and Radev continue issuing statements that there is no Macedonian minority in Bulgaria. Let Ali Ahmeti continue stating that according to him there’s nothing wrong in including Bulgarians in the Preamble to the Constitution. Let Bulgaria’s European partners continue making excuses when an EU member state doesn’t recognize the rulings of the European Court of Human Rights and in a nationalistic manner torments another state that wants to become an EU member.
That’s why, the leader of VMRO-DPMNE Hristijan Mickoski can just stop calling for early elections. He is free to do what he wants, to walk to Vodno every day and watch from up there, poking fun at whatever the working groups managed to cover in Sofia and Skopje. If this whole thing with Bulgaria lasts a little longer, he’ll certainly win. He’ll be able to form a new Government with Apasiev, and then we’ll see if their working groups can do any better.
And – back to square one. The European guardians of values will come here and blame us for electing nationalists. They’ll say: “What can we do? You’re the ones who elected them!”
Sure, we’re the ones who elected them. However, you, people from the EU, are the ones who were running their campaign.
4 Recalling all the romance on our path to the EU, I went back to my column from 12 November, 1994, when I noted that the head of the CSCE (now OSCE) observation mission, Lambert Kelstermants, stated he saw Macedonia with a romantic future, “as the sunrise in Colorado and the sunset over your lake.” Back then, upset because of the European romance, I wrote: “Sunrise, sunset… Red. Blood-red. Or, as one other poet had said: ‘Ah! Let the sun set, let me die…’ Absolutely romantic! Good Lord!”
28 years later, I don’t get upset by European romance, let alone get excited like Bojan Marichic.
5 The fact that the believers who jumped after the cross in Vardar mocked Prime Minister Dimitar Kovachevski by shouting “Never North…” could be expected. What has entered the core of the hardcore nationalists, might be defiance. Still, why on earth would he be there? Why would a Prime Minister attend a religious rite? Just release a statement to greet everyone and mind your own business.
In Zaev’s case we saw that populism doesn’t work with the voters who choose whether SDSM will come (remain) to power. Mickoski went in Ohrid for the Epiphany holiday and at the port he gave statements about early elections. It’s his thing. Kovachevski can’t do anything to win over the VMRO-DPMNE voters, especially not the ones who shout “Never North” at him… He should try not to disappoint the ones whose votes have always been crucial for SDSM to win the elections.
6 The mayor of Skopje, Danela Arsovska, stood next to the Prime Minister and the head of the Macedonian Orthodox Church, Archbishop Stefan. On Epiphany we saw live interviews on TV with mayors from several towns, and journalists taking statements from them. What would a politician state on the occasion of the revelation of God.
Politicians, especially the ones elected by the people, have other, difficult crosses to bear. None of them have been elected to give their opinion on the baptism of the Lord. Everyone knows who should speak at a religious event – the priest or the imam. What would a mayor have to say about an event which happened two thousand twenty two years ago?
7 The new German Government wants to attract 400,000 people a year so that their economy wouldn’t suffer during the recovery period after the pandemic.
They can move us all there in a few goes. It will be a transfer of mutual satisfaction. Neither will we suffer and humiliate ourselves in order to get a Bulgarian passport and eventually move to the EU, nor will German economy suffer. We’ll move there along with our children. We’ll secure both our future and theirs. Without joining the EU.
Translated by Nikola Gjelincheski
