We strongly disagree with the statement of Bulgarian President Iliana Iotova that Macedonia and Bulgaria have a “common history” and that Sofia will continue to “care” for Bulgarians in Macedonia, the Socialist Party of Macedonia (SPM) said in a press release Monday.
“Macedonian history has its own continuity and development and cannot be reshaped today according to Bulgarian national pretensions. Macedonia has its own historical, spiritual and cultural continuity and its own national memory. It is an ancient center of European civilization and its past cannot be interpreted exclusively through the political matrices of neighboring states. Historical contacts between peoples do not mean a common national history. In particular, contemporary national categories cannot be retrospectively imposed on centuries of Macedonian history today, and the political processes of Bulgarian national imposition and assimilation presented as a “common history,” said the SPM.
Instead of historical pretensions and political tutelage, respect for the Macedonian people, their language, culture, identity and historical memory is needed.
“Finally, for those who deliberately forget the historical fact: ASNOM is the foundation of modern Macedonian statehood, won through the four-year anti-fascist and liberation struggle of the Macedonian people, including against the Bulgarian fascist occupation government. That historical fact clearly testifies that Macedonian statehood is not someone else’s project, but the result of our own struggle, our own political will and our own state-forming law. Europe is not built by appropriating someone else’s history, but by respecting diversity. This is where every attempt to reshape Macedonia according to someone else’s historical and political matrices begins and ends. Macedonia is not anyone’s historical project. Macedonia has its own history. Macedonia is our own,” underlined the Socialist Party of Macedonia.
