„More civic energy needs to be accumulated in the Republic of North Macedonia in order to be able to get out of this orbit of influence created by certain political structures”.
This was stated to NOVA NEWS by the co-chairman of the Joint Historical Commission between Bulgaria and North Macedonia - Prof. Angel Dimitrov.
According to him, the ruling party in the Republic of North Macedonia has enormous media power with which it influences public opinion. „Here is the connection that we see that connects the Prime Minister with Vučić and leads to the Hungarian connection and Orbán”, commented Prof. Dimitrov.
This week, a meeting of the Joint Historical Commission between Bulgaria and North Macedonia was held. Prof. Dimitrov said that nothing happens at the meetings.
“The desire of our colleagues is to question even what has already been agreed upon. This suggests that they are in sync with the political advice coming from their leadership. I feel sorry for these people, I sympathize with them, I understand how difficult it is nowadays to be an authorized historian in the RSM”, commented Prof. Dimitrov.
“The symbiosis between history and politics does not mean that historians follow political decisions. The opposite should be the case in a democratic society”, he also commented.
In the early 1990s, “this layer of Yugoslavism was observed to be thinning at the expense of nationalism”. “But in recent years, due to the policies of the ruling party, we are seeing a return to this Yugoslav connection, to an excessive fascination with Serbia”, said Prof. Dimitrov.
“There is a civil society in the RSM. I hope that the critical attitude towards the political mantras with which it is modeled in one form or another will increasingly strengthen. This awakening can happen not only because of a misfortune, such as the one in Kochani, but also because the double standards that many politicians in this country use are becoming clearer,”, commented the professor.