As a small European country, Bulgaria, from the Liberation from Turkish slavery until today, has always been attached to one of the empires. Opportunities for an independent foreign policy have been few. Precisely because of this, the names of those who managed to impose the Bulgarian presence on the international stage - personalities, diplomats and journalists are rare, but they do exist. In many cases they have Macedonian roots.
I had the honor of knowing the diplomat Evgeni Silyanov, son of Hristo Silyanov. Their lineage is from Ohrid – the spiritual capital of Bulgaria for centuries. Dimitar Panitsa introduced me to Evgeni. For both of them, Macedonia and Bulgaria were one and the same. Tito's Macedonia, as it was called, or the Republic of Macedonia, names that changed depending on geopolitical shifts, did not change their opinion until the end of their lives. They treated Tito's victims with helpless sympathy. They were sorry for the persecution against the Bulgarians in Aegean Macedonia and they categorically condemned the atrocities of the communist militia in Pirin Macedonia.
Today, the late Dimitar Panitsa owns a piece of street between Tsar Osvoboditel Square and Vasil Levski Boulevard. Evgeni Silyanov had nothing until the last Macedonian elections, which elected one of his granddaughters as president of Macedonia.
It is not necessary to consider in detail the success of Gordana Silyanovska, because she is a typical representative of the Serbian nomenclature, who buried forever in the Samuil fortress the traces of the Bulgarian origin of the Silyanov family.
Her victory coincides with Xi Jinping's ceremonial welcome by Aleksandar Vucic. The president of the second, and soon maybe the first economic power in the world, landed in Belgrade, not in Sofia. This political and diplomatic victory of “small“ Serbia will inevitably raise the self-esteem of the Serbs in Skopje. It is no coincidence that newly elected President Siljanovska responded to Vucic's congratulations on her victory in pure Serbian, not in Macedonian.
The current events, part of the geopolitical shifts in Europe and beyond, raise the question - should Bulgaria continue its current policy towards Macedonia? The French say “a winning team does not change”. However, the Bulgarian team is not a winner, but a loser! “The Historical Commission” sits formally, achieves nothing and will achieve nothing, because the threat of irreconcilable nationalism, both Macedonian and Bulgarian, hangs over it.
The statue of Johann Gutenberg has been standing in the center of today's French Strasbourg since 1840. Neither the French nor the Germans debate who invented modern printing. For some, the founder of the French state is “Charlemagne". For others – "Karl der Grosse". In reality, we are talking about the same emperor - Charlemagne. There is no historical commission between the two sides, no dispute on this matter.
The pinnacle of Bulgaria's geopolitical blindness is the veto against North Macedonia for negotiations on possible entry into the European Union. What did Bulgaria gain with this patriotic short-sightedness? It isolates itself from European diplomacy. It allowed the Serbs to rub their hands together pointing to Bulgaria as Macedonia's enemy and win elections in Skopje.
Bulgarian foreign policy, as it is, must resolutely free itself from historical complexes and become a guide for the Vardar Macedonians on the way to Europe. It's not too late.