This reeks of communism where facts and reason are replaced by ideological consensus and the "cooperation between the peoples".
http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/arti...st-cooperation
Macedonian, Bulgarian Academics Boost Working Links
October 10, 2013
Macedonian and Bulgarian academics agreed practical ways of boosting ties after decades of non-cooperation at a time when the two countries' political relations remain strained. At a meeting last weekend in the Bulgarian town of Sandanski, academics from the neighbouring countries agreed to cooperate in some 40 different fields ranging from social to natural sciences. Vlado Kambovski, the head of the Macedonian Academy of Sciences and Arts, said the establishment of academic cooperation was of “extraordinary” importance for bilateral relations. “The fields of science and culture [are] two areas of outstanding importance for opening of the ways of cooperation between the two peoples,” Kambovski said. The teamwork should begin next month and is intended to continue for at least the next three years. The touchy subject of history, where both nations have sometimes radically different views, is one of the areas of cooperation, Kambovski confirmed. “We are not going to touch those famous questions related to identity. We in science talk with one language that embraces different scientific views,” Kambovski said. In contrast to Macedonia’s strained ties to Greece, marred by the longstanding dispute over the country’s name, Bulgaria and Macedonia have had relatively friendly relations in the past, although tainted by mutual mistrust. Bulgaria was the first country to recognise Macedonia when it proclaimed independence from Yugoslavia in 1991. Moreover, Sofia, unlike Athens, recognises its neighbour under its constitutional name, Republic of Macedonia. On the other hand, Sofia is reluctant to recognise the existence of a Macedonian language, separate from Bulgarian, and many Bulgarian historians still maintain that Macedonians are ethnic Bulgarians. Bulgaria also does not recognise the existence of a Macedonian minority in south-west Bulgaria, though Macedonia reluctantly admits that there are people with a Bulgarian identity in Macedonia. The political relations between the two took turn for the worse when in December last year, Bulgaria joined Greece in preventing Macedonia from obtaining a start date for EU accession talks. While Greece justified its blockade on the grounds of the bilateral dispute over Macedonia’s name, Bulgaria said it could not support a country that had failed to nurture neighbourly relations. Bulgaria said it objected to what it saw as discriminatory attitudes towards ethnic Bulgarians in Macedonia, accusing Skopje of fomenting an anti-Bulgarian atmosphere. As a result, Brussels said it would closely monitor the effort to improve bilateral ties as a precondition for the country’s accession talks. In January, both sides set up political work groups and launched negotiations, expected to result in the signing of a friendship treaty. Both countries also pledged to boost economic ties. But with the European Commission annual report on Macedonia’s progress towards joining the EU about to be published next week, there is no sign of the announced Macedonia-Bulgaria friendship treaty. Observers fear that this will be regarded in the Commission’s report as a shortcoming after the initial progress in improving relations at the start of this year.
October 10, 2013
Macedonian and Bulgarian academics agreed practical ways of boosting ties after decades of non-cooperation at a time when the two countries' political relations remain strained. At a meeting last weekend in the Bulgarian town of Sandanski, academics from the neighbouring countries agreed to cooperate in some 40 different fields ranging from social to natural sciences. Vlado Kambovski, the head of the Macedonian Academy of Sciences and Arts, said the establishment of academic cooperation was of “extraordinary” importance for bilateral relations. “The fields of science and culture [are] two areas of outstanding importance for opening of the ways of cooperation between the two peoples,” Kambovski said. The teamwork should begin next month and is intended to continue for at least the next three years. The touchy subject of history, where both nations have sometimes radically different views, is one of the areas of cooperation, Kambovski confirmed. “We are not going to touch those famous questions related to identity. We in science talk with one language that embraces different scientific views,” Kambovski said. In contrast to Macedonia’s strained ties to Greece, marred by the longstanding dispute over the country’s name, Bulgaria and Macedonia have had relatively friendly relations in the past, although tainted by mutual mistrust. Bulgaria was the first country to recognise Macedonia when it proclaimed independence from Yugoslavia in 1991. Moreover, Sofia, unlike Athens, recognises its neighbour under its constitutional name, Republic of Macedonia. On the other hand, Sofia is reluctant to recognise the existence of a Macedonian language, separate from Bulgarian, and many Bulgarian historians still maintain that Macedonians are ethnic Bulgarians. Bulgaria also does not recognise the existence of a Macedonian minority in south-west Bulgaria, though Macedonia reluctantly admits that there are people with a Bulgarian identity in Macedonia. The political relations between the two took turn for the worse when in December last year, Bulgaria joined Greece in preventing Macedonia from obtaining a start date for EU accession talks. While Greece justified its blockade on the grounds of the bilateral dispute over Macedonia’s name, Bulgaria said it could not support a country that had failed to nurture neighbourly relations. Bulgaria said it objected to what it saw as discriminatory attitudes towards ethnic Bulgarians in Macedonia, accusing Skopje of fomenting an anti-Bulgarian atmosphere. As a result, Brussels said it would closely monitor the effort to improve bilateral ties as a precondition for the country’s accession talks. In January, both sides set up political work groups and launched negotiations, expected to result in the signing of a friendship treaty. Both countries also pledged to boost economic ties. But with the European Commission annual report on Macedonia’s progress towards joining the EU about to be published next week, there is no sign of the announced Macedonia-Bulgaria friendship treaty. Observers fear that this will be regarded in the Commission’s report as a shortcoming after the initial progress in improving relations at the start of this year.
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