The Existence of a Macedonian minority in Bulgaria

[Carlin]

Citizens of Vatasha paint a slogan in response to claims by Bulgarian MEP Andrey Kovatchev

URL:

https://english.republika.mk/news/macedonia/citizens-of-vatasha-paint-a-slogan-in-response-to-claims-by-bulgarian-mep-andrey-kovatchev/

Citizens of Vatasha, near Kavadarci, responded to an interview with Bulgarian member of the European Parliament Andrey Kovatchev, who denied the World War Two crimes perpetrated by Bulgarian soldiers, by painting the slogan “Vatasha is written in blood”.

Vatasha had a history of rebelling both against Serbian and Bulgarian rule. During World War Two, in June 1943, occupying Bulgarian soldiers massacred 12 young men from Vatasha who they suspected of cooperatign with partisans. Those killed aged between 15 and 28, while four girls that were also taken to be shot, were eventually spared.

Kovatchev, who is campaigning strongly among Bulgarian nationalists on the Macedonian issue, did an interview with Alfa TV, during which he denied that Bulgarian forces perpetrated crimes in Macedonia during the war.

[Rogi]

Unless I am mistaken, this is something like the 12th such win, but alas, nothing has changed.

These kinds of issues have never been resolved via courts.

[VMRO]

A win for the Macedonians of Pirin!

https://mia.mk/echr-rules-again-in-f...garia/?lang=en

Sadly they have won also in the past and nothing gets done.

[maco2envy]

A win for the Macedonians of Pirin!

https://mia.mk/echr-rules-again-in-f...garia/?lang=en

Finally, some form of good news

[Liberator of Makedonija]

A win for the Macedonians of Pirin!

https://mia.mk/echr-rules-again-in-favor-of-macedonians-in-bulgaria/?lang=en

[Risto the Great]

Excerpt of Georgi Dimitrov's speech on Pirin Macedonia, in relation to the-then People's Republic of Macedonia, in 1946:

https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Docum..._the_CC_of_BWP

For the benefit of posterity (and future edits)

AN EXCERPT FROM A SPEECH MADE BY GEORGI DIMITROV AT THE TENTH EXPANDED PLENARY SESSION OF THE CENTRAL COMMITTEE OF THE BULGARIAN WORKERS' PARTY (COMMUNISTS)[1]

August 9th, 1946

…The second issue is the issue of the Pirin region. What is the new element which should be included in the elections in the Pirin region? It is related to our assessment of the Macedonian issue. In our ranks there are comrades who still do not understand how our policy concerning the Macedonian issue should be defined. It is often forgotten that the main goal of the Macedonian people is the already established state and nation in the framework of the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia, established as the people's Republic of Macedonia. This republic represents the base for the unification of the other parts of the Macedonian people, especially Macedonians in the Pirin region, in accordance with an agreement on this topic made between, Yugoslavia and Bulgaria, which should also determine the return of the Western Bulgarian provinces to Bulgaria. In the preparations of this great deed, it is also necessary, at the elections of the Great National Assembly, to have a Fatherland Front candidate elected in the Pirin region and thus the elected candidates would represent in the future Great National Assembly a Macedonian parliamentary group. It is not correct to use the phrases "Vardar Macedonia", "Pirin Macedonia" and "Aegean Macedonia". Three Macedonias do not exist. There is only one Macedonia which in its principal part is established as the People's Republic of Macedonia in the framework of the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia, which at this time is in full development. (Applause). Now we are discussing the Macedonian population in the Pirin region. This population should now make their stand as a part of the Macedonian people, a part to be united with the People's Republic of Macedonia. (Loud applause).

Starting from such a position we must precisely determine our tasks. It is not sufficient to recognize in principle the Macedonians as a separate people, that Macedonians are neither Bulgarians or Serbs, but that they are Macedonian. This is essential but not sufficient. Understandably such a recognition is indispensible but we must also act in this direction. The Macedonian population in the Pirin region should start with preparations even now. It is necessary to work on the cultural rapprochement of that population and the population of Federal Macedonia. It is necessary to encourage broad cultural understanding between Macedonians in the Pirin region and Macedonians in the People's Republic of Macedonia. The adoption of the Macedonian language and Macedonian literature is also necessary' Macedonians in the Pirin region should know the history of the Macedonian people.

It is necessary to establish the closest contacts between the Macedonian emigration in Bulgaria and our Pirin Macedonians; they should develop between themselves cooperation in favor of the People's Republic of Macedonia which is in the general interests of all Slavs.

We, as a Communist Party, should demand from the Pirin Macedonians and the Macedonian emigration that they should participate in the struggle of the Bulgarian people against the reaction, in the development of our future republic, in waging a resolute struggle against those who are hostile to the rapprochement of Yugoslavia and Bulgaria, against the enemies and Greater-Bulgarian chauvinists, enemies of the unification of the Macedonian people, enemies of the People's Republic of Macedonia and those assisting the reaction in Bulgaria. They should be unmasked and expeled from the ranks of the movement for the unification of the Macedonian people, because they are the sworn enemies of the future federation of South Slavs. (Long applause).

[Liberator of Makedonija]

Excerpt of Georgi Dimitrov's speech on Pirin Macedonia, in relation to the-then People's Republic of Macedonia, in 1946:

https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Documents_on_the_Struggle_of_the_Macedonian_People_for_Independence_and_a_Nation-State/A_speech_from_Georgi_Dimitrov_to_the_CC_of_BWP

[Liberator of Makedonija]

Home of an OMO Ilinden - Pirin activist in the Kresna village of Oštava, the birthplace of Krum Monev.

[Liberator of Makedonija]

Any idea where the Macedonian minority is concentrated in these days? Petrič had historically been a stronghold but I don't know if that's still the case.

[TrueMacedonian]

http://www.minorityrights.org/2434/bulgaria/macedonians.html

Profile

The issue of whether a separate Macedonian language is spoken in Bulgaria and, if so, by how many people, is highly controversial. Bulgaria has traditionally claimed that there are no such people as Macedonians since they are in reality ethnic Bulgarians. The 1992 census indicated 10,830 Macedonians, but in the 2001 census this figure had deceased to 5,071 although there were claims of official pressure to dissuade people to identify as such. Some unofficial sources have claimed a population of up to 250,000, but this figure is strongly contended. The majority of Macedonians live in the Pirin region, in the south-western Bulgarian district of Blagoevgrad, although there are reportedly Macedonian communities in Plovdiv, Burgas, Varna, Ruse, Pernik and Kyustendil.

Historical Context

South-western Bulgaria, where ethnic Macedonians are concentrated, became a part of Bulgaria in 1912.

Immediately after the Second World War, the Bulgarian Communist Party recognized a separate Macedonian identity, even to the extent of obliging ethnic Bulgarians in the Pirin region to define themselves as Macedonians on their identity cards. The authorities never published the 1946 census results for Macedonians, but some claimed that they exceeded 250,000.

In 1947, Macedonian language and history were made compulsory in schools in the Pirin region. However, the deterioration of relations between Bulgaria and Yugoslavia in 1948 led the authorities to replace its policy of recognizing separate Macedonian ethnicity with increasingly aggressive policies of assimilation. The government ended Macedonian-language education; in the early 1960s it revoked identity cards giving the bearer's nationality as Macedonian and reissued them with the inscription of Bulgarian. Macedonian activists were prosecuted and some Macedonians compulsorily resettled. In order to defuse irredentist sentiments, the authorities invested heavily in the Pirin region. These policies led more Macedonians to take up identifying as Bulgarians, and the census of 1956 recorded fewer than 190,000 Macedonians.

With the end of the communist regime in 1989, several Macedonian political parties were established, most notably the United Macedonian Organization-Ilinden (UMO-Ilinden), which takes its name from the St Elijah's Day or Ilinden (20 July) rising against Ottoman rule in 1903. The authorities soon circumscribed its activities, however, citing article 11 of the 1991 constitution banning the formation of ethnic or religious parties. The government also relied on a constitutional provision defining Bulgaria as a homogenous, mono-ethnic state, in which all activities ‘aimed against the unity of the state' are banned. UMO-Ilinden's principal goal was to secure the recognition of the Macedonians as a minority in Bulgaria entitled to their own cultural and educational facilities. Extremists within UMO-Ilinden and its pro-Bulgarian rival party, Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization - Union of Macedonian Organizations, advocated respectively the annexation of the Pirin region by Macedonia and the annexation of Macedonia by Bulgaria.

When the government established a consultative body on minority issues in 1997, the National Council on Ethnic and Demographic Questions, Macedonians were excluded. Under EU pressure in the course of its accession process, Bulgaria allowed registration of the Macedonian party ‘UMO Ilinden - PIRIN' (the acronym is also transcribed as OMO) in 1999, but in 2000 the Bulgaria's constitutional court agreed with a government motion to ban it as threatening the unity of the state.

Without their own party, Macedonian voters were left to choose from among other parties in Bulgaria, all of which denied the existence of a separate Macedonian identity. The 2001 census recorded only 5,071 Macedonians, but the census forms contained no category for that ethnicity.

In 2001 the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruled that Bulgaria had violated Macedonians' right to freedom of assembly by prohibiting commemorative activities of the previous incarnation of the UMO-Ilinden organization.

Current Issues

In 2005 the ECHR again ruled against Bulgaria for its ban of the UMO-Ilinden - PIRIN party, and the ruling came into effect in January 2006. However, the government has assiduously avoided action to comply with the ruling, with domestic courts citing Bulgaria's 1991 constitution, which gives primacy to domestic over international law. Under increasing pressure from the EU while in the final phases of its accession process, Bulgaria proceeded to pass new domestic legislation on political parties. Yet when UMO-Ilindin-PIRIN attempted to re-register, the government aggressively challenged the signatures on its required petition. Signatories reported police harassment, and Bulgarian media indulged in scornful coverage of the party, reinforcing the popular prejudice that Macedonians do not constitute a separate ethnicity, and that claims to the contrary amount to secessionism.

In February 2007, less than two months into Bulgaria's EU membership, its Supreme Court confirmed lower court rejections of the party's registration. In September 2007, the European Commission reminded Bulgaria of its obligation to respect the ECHR ruling, as well as the EU Directive that all EU citizens are protected from racial or ethnic discrimination. Justice Commissioner Franco Frattini stated that the Commission would inquire whether that Directive has been adequately incorporated into Bulgarian legislation.

Macedonians continue to face routine harassment. In July 2005, members of a nationalist Bulgarian party disrupted a Macedonian commemoration in Razlog with violent intimidation, and police refused to provide protection. In September 2007, police in Blagoevgrad, whose mayor has been virulently anti-Macedonian, prevented a rally by members of UMO-Ilindin-PIRIN by detaining participants and seizing posters. Police in the town have previously gone door-to-door to question party members. In Bulgaria's schools, there remains no mention of Macedonian ethnicity.

[George S.]

I think yourr'e right Makedonche.

[makedonche]

GeorgeS.
[QUOTEThe eu or anyone else doesn't care they have been told about greece & bulgaria but they disregard any notice.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
][/QUOTE]

George I think Imagination has the same respect for Macedonians rights as Greece and the EU do!

[George S.]

Imagination if only it were possible the people would identify as macedonian.When you have state run terrorism,forced assimilation,denials to speak their language that's real genocide.You can't identify yourself as macedonian.It's being like a criminal.Do you understand what is going on in bulgaria & greece both in the past & today.The people are not free to express themselves .Everything has virtually been denied to the macedonian people & they are really helpless at the mercy of their occupiers/oppressors.Do you think greece or bulgaria are going to tell the truth that they are falsifying their figures?No way hosey they've got state driven propaganda & they deny macedonians their rights continuously.There are numerous examples from helsinki watch etc that show complete disregard for macedonian minority rights to denials of their existence when in fact there's complete violations & complete disregard for their rights.In a supposedly democratic country like greece & bulgaria it's happening in eu countries.The eu or anyone else doesn't care they have been told about greece & bulgaria but they disregard any notice.

[Soldier of Macedon]

He is referring to the part where you wrote "even if there is such a thing". What 'thing' are you talking about? Elaborate on that point with your next post or see yourself gone from here, you cryptic clown.

[Imagination]

Can you specify more clearly what you wrote here?

There was some thing about falsification in George S.' post and I asked "Why doesn't Macedonia do something ?"