NORTH MACEDONIA | Bulgarian Bullying?

[@tupsum]

And finally, ask yourself: What would Germany do, if in the Austrian school books was written that the Germans are huns?

[@bobantheighty6141]

There is no real Macedonian nation and there never was! Everything was created in the years after 1944 within the borders of Tito's Communist Yugoslavia, and at the expense, damage and on the corpses of tens of thousands of Bulgarians who died for the freedom of Macedonian region from Turkish Slavery! The prolonged non-recognition with guides of the absolute truth by the communist structures in the present Republic of North Macedonia will force Bulgaria to categorically block the path of this young country to the European Union and it is completely understandable! The outright stubbornness bordering on some form of schizophrenia, a durable senile dementia and identity crisis, all together with the continuing denial of objective historical truths from the side of the communist structures and regimes in nowadays Republic of North Macedonia, even since the break-up of what was then Yugoslavia in the in the 90's, will force Bulgaria in nowadays, by a huge supporter at the beginning to become a categorical blocker of the path of this very compromised state to the European Union. And of course, that act will be completely understandable and acceptable by all Europeans who know the problem in depth! But unfortunately, for Europeans with superficial understandings, the dispute between Bulgaria and North Macedonia is seen as a whim by the Bulgarians, incomprehensible to other Europeans! The neglect of the problem mainly by Germans, Austrians, Slovenes and Czechs, in fact, shows their deep ignorance of the essence of things, as well as, a serious lack knowledge of any historical facts south of their borders. Unfortunately, it sounds really bad, the same as, the Bulgarians hypothetically to be so uneducated and ignorant that, they start claiming that the Bavarians are a separate nation from the German, the Tyroleans from the Austrian or the Moravian from the Czech!?! But thank God, Bulgarians know the history of Europe very well and won't show the same ignorance! Reminder: This year, Bulgaria and North Macedonia celebrate 149 years since the birth of the big Bulgarian revolutionary, patriot and ideologue of the Internal Macedonian-Edirne Revolutionary Organization, the great man of honour - Gotse Delchev. Hundreds Bulgarians cry by the roadside when, on Georgi Dimitrov's orders, the carriage with the remains of Gotse Delchev is transported from Sofia to Skopje. Gotse wanted to see Macedonia free.. Free and United with mother Bulgaria! But definitely not the today's what is called North Macedonia, a place run by the deep state, UDBA secret services, a state serving foreign interests, and showing hateful towards home, family and its place of origin! God created them Bulgarians, Tito made them Macedonians! Link: kzbin.info/www/bejne/oKuQZ2hjhN93p6M Only the truth makes us FREE! 🗽☦️🦁🇧🇬

[@TheNeptuneArc]

Not huns, but yes, they were Nazis. And so were the Bulgarians.

[@ΙωαννηςΒανιοσοβ]

@@TheNeptuneArc same nazi was north maimoudonian there's literally a video how they greeting the nazis🙃

[@thatisme3thatisme38]

@@GOGMKD read a little better. The first bulgars established in Macedonia - Kuber. If bulgarians are "tatars" so are macedonians

[@prekarketiperi]

Macedonian nation exist.

[@iliyadimitrov4915]

If Bulgaria is losing friends at high speed because of this issue, it is highly probable that Bulgaria never had these friends in the first place... :( You mentioned the treaty of Berlin but didn't mention the immediately preceding treaty of San Stefano and the fact that the Balkan war was actually two Balkan wars - the second one erupting exactly over disputes for the Macedonian region. Good video! +1

[@TheYehat]

So true and so sad. But better with the bitter truth, than the delusion. The Great powers have always played with the fates of countless people, they somehow become in their eyes the hand of the God, but they're not. Whatever the cost, we as Bulgarians should stand on this. This is the only country since before "Europe" that is here, has not changed its name and just refuses to play interchanging games. With or without EU, it is time to stand for the last remaining bulgarian footprint - our history. The legacy of that can make not just us, but the world better and more wise.

[@Peterkonto]

The Slavic-speaking population in the region of Macedonia had been referred to both (by themselves and outsiders) as Bulgarians, and that is how they were predominantly seen since 10th, up until the early 20th century. According to Encyclopædia Britannica, at the beginning of the 20th century the Macedonian Bulgarians constituted the majority of the population in the whole region of Macedonia, then part of the Ottoman Empire...

[@Lachezariii]

Никога не сме имали приятели в ЕС и това е поредното доказателсто. ЕС унищожава Европа и националните държави, затова беше създаден. Моментално напускане на ЕС, ако искаме да има България след 20 години. Това е единственото решение. Никога Великите Сили не са били приятели на България, НИКОГА.

[@at-yj8pl]

@@Lachezariii Neither Russia, nor the western powers wanted a united Bulgaria. They have caused a massive amount of division and violence in the Balkans. I hope there is a god and all are brought to justice.

[@stanislavivanov8056]

Agree with Iliya.

[@thatisme3thatisme38]

It's easy to call it " petty" when it is not your history and culture and national historic figures that are appropriated. What would you say as a if the US or Australia started appropriating British or English history and culture? The N Macedonians go further and have promoted hatred and denial of it's history and contribution. It is now institutionalized pastime there and Bulgaria and bulgarians are called all sorts of insults.

[@leonardodavid2842]

As EU citizen, Bulgaria has all the rights to use it’s VETO on the matter

[@renatostamatovski2129]

@@leonardodavid2842 do u know rhe criteria how bulgaristan becomme member of EU? ... eu rules, including veto, are not established for the infantil minds as ... 🙂

[@GeorgeGuerov]

@@renatostamatovski2129 що е македонец, все е говно

[@renatostamatovski2129]

@@GeorgeGuerov а зошто тогаш го пикаш носот таму? :)

[@garian1821]

@@renatostamatovski2129 а що отговаряш, кат са "2 различни езика"? :)

[@QuantumBraced]

Bulgaria is prepared to recognize the North Macedonian nation and language if North Macedonia agrees to recognize basic historical facts. What Bulgaria has an issue with is North Macedonia's claims on Bulgarian and Greek history. Imagine if Americans claimed all of British history as their own, said Lord Nelson was actually American, while also claiming Native American history. That is what's essentially happening.

[@hydroverse6782]

@@aleksandarmatevski1258 Don't steal history, don't face consequences. Simple to understand, even for a fyromian.

[@wakeno.6047]

@@aleksandarmatevski1258 America and Britain, are not balkans, history, and origin here, are reason for war. Specially when Russia and turkey still play their political games here. If North Macedonia doesn't accept their language being Bulgarian and that they must respect Bulgarians living there, then how is Bulgaria gonna accept that country. Greece had an issue , not only about the name, but even their constitution, which recocnised Greece lands as theirs, so there were a lot to change.

[@wankawanka3053]

@@aleksandarmatevski1258 lol you think people would be ok with history theft but bulgaria and greece are the exceptions? What a joke

[@rudolfohisena1836]

Macedonian is a dialect of Bulgarian language. Dialects are not languages

[@bobantheighty6141]

In North Macedonia people still tremble in anticipation before the December Council of the Member States of the European Union. North-Macedonians have an impression that Bulgaria will lift the Veto on this summit. At the same time, in Bulgaria, all Bulgarians are still waiting for the North-Macedonians to start behaving civilly and European and to leave behind the Serbo-Yugoslav way of thinking and primitive behavior! Of course, the Bulgarian Veto will continue until the democratic changes in North Macedonia really become a reality and we see real results such as the recognition of the objective historical truth as it is, not as it has been presented since the time of Yugoslavia. Official recognition of the authorities in Skopje for the repressions and genocide carried out systematically against the Bulgarian population - Macedonian Bulgarians, tens of thousands of them killed without trial and sentence during the rule of dictator Tito and decisions taken by the communist junta on ASNOM/АСНОМ in the former Yugoslavia and the Socialist Federal Republic of Macedonia after August 2, 1944. There is no official recognition of the Bulgarian ethnic group in the Republic of North Macedonia yet. The equal rights of Macedonian Bulgarians with all other ethnic groups specified in the constitution and living in the territory of the Republic of North Macedonia are still some utopia and chimera! North-Macedonians must return the bones of our big hero from Macedonian region Gotse Delchev/Гоце Делчев back to Bulgaria ASAP! The communist leader Georgi Dimitrov/Георги Димитров gave them to the dictator Tito under pressure and order of Stalin and the Comintern, and this great injustice to the Bulgarian nation must be restored immediately! Reminder: Hundreds Bulgarians cry by the roadside when, on Georgi Dimitrov's orders, the carriage with the remains of Gotse Delchev is transported from Sofia to Skopje in 1946. We also remind that there are no more repressed peoples than the Bulgarians and Albanians who fell within the borders of Serbia, and subsequently Yugoslavia after the decisions of the Berlin Congress to separate them from from relatives and homeland! PS: It is high time that the Bulgarians there should take their rightful leadership position, as the largest majority, together with the Albanians living in the youngest country in Europe and future candidate for the European Union. Freedom for the Bulgarians in North Macedonia! 🗽☦️🦁🇧🇬

[@angelkermedchiev1644]

What " friends " Bulgaria have ?!?!? In the first situation where friends support was needed Bulgaria was let down . God save us from EU friends !

[@antonisv9679]

Greece is by your side

[@neos9898]

@@antonisv9679 no its not

[@fabiandanesti1497]

U always have Romania,ur bigger bro

[@fabiandanesti1497]

@@neos9898 well i am

[@bobantheighty6141]

Textbooks in North Macedonia still say that Bulgarians are fascists and occupiers. Absolute nonsense, when the facts show that 90% of the administration in then Vardar Macedonia in the period 1941 -1944 were local Macedonian Bulgarians. We recall that the brother of Nikola Yanakiev Karev, a Bulgarian revolutionary, a narrow socialist, an activist of the Macedonian-Edirne National Liberation Movement, an active participant in the Ilinden-Preobrazhensko Uprising and also a leader of the Krushevo Republic is a mayor that time. - Is he an occupier too?!? So... "Dear" North-Macedonians, you will see the European Union only when you learn your lesson and write your homework! The manipulation, distorted interpretation and the obvious falsification of Bulgarian history, just to be shown that some "Macedonian" nation, created entirely in an artificial way is a real fact, exists and has a real basis on which to step are absolutely inadmissible and unacceptable! We Bulgarians have already learned our lesson too. We learned that in North Macedonia we no longer have brothers, sisters or friends, but only janissaries and traitors to family, roots and homeland! PS: The Bulgarian Veto is absolutely timely, deserved and categorical and protects the absolute truth, the Bulgarian History and the dignity of the Bulgarian people who have given enlightenment to almost the whole of the Slavic world. Veto, veto and only VETO! 🗽☦️🦁🇧🇬

[@vilimanolov3842]

The nature of the controversy does not start after the demise of the Ottoman empire as your story begins. Controversies about historical heritage begin in the 10th Century when during the First Bulgarian Empire, which includes and surpasses the territory of present North Macedonia, Christianity was adopted and the Cyrilic was created in its present day form by the students of Cyril and Merhodius, Saint Climent and Saint Naum in Preslav and Ohrid. The alphabet was commissioned by the Bulgarian king Boris and was composed on the basis of the dialect spoken within the Bulgarian kingdom of the time. However, the our North Macedian friends dont aknowledge this and say that actually this is the start of the Macedonian language, even thougj at the time there is no mention in any of the primary sources about Macedia as any kind of national identity to have ots own language. They later say that king Samuel created a „ Macedonian kingdom“ even though all the Greek sources say that the nature of the state is Bulgarian and the Byzantine emperor who ultimately crashed Samuel‘s empire is known as the Bulgarian slayer in the primary sources. Whats more, Samuel‘s descendents wrought on a stone close to the fortress in Bitola in writing that the king is Bulgarian, the kingdom is Bulgarian and so on, the stone can be found in Bitola‘s museum. And it goes on and on with our North Macedonian friends trying to find evidence 1000 years ago that tjey have nothing to do with Bulgaria and counterfeit later historical periods of the 19th and 20th century when all of the slav population of present day North Macedonia declared as Bulgarian as all their liberation heroes, etc. This can also be confirmed by the Ottoman census where the population is Bulgarian, Greek or Turkish- no macedians in the 19th century since the idea of a seperate macedoniam identity was put forward and institutionalized sfter WW2 by the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia. To wrap up- same issue to what they had with Greece, trying to appropriate their ancient history but relating to the medieval and bulgarian revival period. It is sad for the people pf present day Macedonia to have grown up learning fake versions of historical reality, since my great grand parents come from Bitola, as did hundreds of thousands st the time after the Balkan wars. And all they fled to Bulgaria, not to Serbia, not to Greece or Albania but to Bulgaria. This should speak volumes about how people 100 years ago felt about their national identity. Everything else is Soviet and Yugoslavian propaganda, and its sad that 30 years after the collapse of these regimes they have not been brave enough to admit to the truth, it is important for them way more than it is for us.

[@gart-media]

You should make a video about this problem... way better explanation than the video.

[@bobantheighty6141]

On November 13, 2020, the city of Skopje celebrated the "Day of the Liberation of the City from the Fascist Occupier". Let's remember, that during World War II, according to media reports in North Macedonia, Skopje was occupied by "Fascist Bulgaria", which was an ally of "Hitler's Germany". Among the events flowers were laid at the partisan cemetery in Butel, then flowers at the grave of General Mihailo Apostolski in the Alley of the Giants at Butel Cemetery, as well as flowers in front of the Monument to the Liberators in Skopje, located in front of the government building. The Prime Minister, Mr. Zoran Zaev, along with other members of the government, including Mrs. Radmila Sekerinska - Minister of Defense of the Republic of North Macedonia, honored the event and presented their flowers too. The event was held in honor of all partisans and communists died for the "Freedom of Macedonia from the Fascist Occupier", which is in fact a pretext for the true idea of the acts, namely, a deep purging and preparation of the way in Vardarska Macedonia (the original name of nowadays North Macedonia) for entering of the communist international - The Comintern, Yugoslavia of Tito and Macedonianism as an ideology in this former Bulgarian land. This event raises two main and very fundamental questions, namely: - Why is Bulgaria mentioned as a Fascist Country and Occupier, and Germany as Hitleristic? Which means that Germany's responsibility for those events in the former Yugoslavia is limited only to the period of Hitler and his existence! While Bulgaria and the Bulgarians will bear the stigma of "Fascist State and People" to this day, which is absolutely offensive and unacceptable for good neighborly relations between countries in the 21st century, with common roots and history as Bulgarians! - When will Mrs. Radmila Sekerinska lay flowers on a memorial plaque, if any in North Macedonia, in memory of the thousands of Macedonian Bulgarians killed by Serbs and the regime of Tito's Yugoslavia? Reminder: Shekerinska's grandfather, Alexander Pop Hristov Shekerinov leaves this world as a Bulgarian, killed by Serbian authorities in a particularly brutal manner with 80 stab wounds, while performing his official duties as Secretary Byrnik in the village of Troll, municipality of Sveti Nikolsko. Radmila Shekerinska/Радмила Шекеринска/ changed her last name from Shekerinova to Shekerinska in order to distance herself from her Bulgarian roots and to please the communist elite in Yugoslavia. As an award, UDBA/УДБА secret services made her a Minister of Defense of the Republic of North Macedonia in the government of Zoran Zaev in 2017. Unfortunately, there is no such plaque anywhere in North Macedonia and while this is the case, Mrs. Radmila Shekerinska will have a great sin towards the memory of her ancestors, a great sin toway her own conscience, and most of all, a great sin towards her roots as a Bulgarian... A BIG SHAME! PS: Europeans may not know and do not care how Bulgarians disappear in Macedonia, but we know! Only the truth makes us FREE! 🗽☦️🦁🇧🇬

[@bobantheighty6141]

In the next video you will see how the local population in the town of Resen, southwestern North Macedonia nowadays, which at that time in 1941 bore the Serbian name Serbian Banovina/Сръбска Бановина, (the original Bulgarian name is Vardar Macedonia) welcomed the Bulgarian troops as liberators, not as occupiers! Serbian colonization in Macedonia was a purposeful policy of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, from 1929, to change the ethnic composition of the population in the occupied in 1913 Vardar Macedonia by reducing the relative weight of the Bulgarian element. This settlement, Edmond Boucher de Bell wrote in 1922, "combined with the expulsion of the incorrigible Bulgarian elements, was to lead to the rapid Serbization of the area." The task we ask the following: How can the current heirs of this people we see in the film degenerate to such an extent that they hate their own origin so much and call the Bulgarians "Tatars", "Mongols", "Fascists" and "Occupiers"!?!?!?! In the video you will also see how the Bulgarian soldiers, described in the Socialist Federal Republic of Macedonia and Yugoslavia as cruel "occupiers" and the local "occupied" population, dance together the Bulgarian round dance named horo/хоро and hug. From the footage we also see how, as a sign of respect, children offer flowers to the Bulgarian soldiers. We should also note the fact that the Bulgarian "occupiers" know very well the dance of the "occupied" locals, described in Yugoslavia as Macedonians, and not as Macedonian Bulgarians or just Bulgarians. The reception, which has become a kind of celebration of Freedom, is attended by German soldiers who do not know how to dance the Bulgarian horo, but they are genuinely having fun. Link: kzbin.info/www/bejne/Z4K6d6aooa-obK8 A few details: Immediately after the establishment of the Bulgarian administration in the already free Vardar Macedonia in 1941, it immediately opened the schools and churches closed by the Serbs, amid unprecedented popular enthusiasm that gripped the local population. In the same year, Bulgaria invested 18% of its GDP in the revival of Serb-enslaved Macedonia. The Bulgarians began immediately with the construction of railways and tunnels, which are still used by the people of North Macedonia. At that time, for the Skopje region and the surrounding area, which had a total population of 265,000, the Bulgarian administration appointed only 123 police officers to take care for the security and tranquility of the locals. This only shows how much trust there was between the Macedonian Bulgarians and the Bulgarians of the Principality, who appointed only locals in the management of all local institutions! Reminder: In Bulgaria to be a Macedonian and Bulgarian have always meant the same thing! Only in North Macedonia are these still two different things and mutually exclusive! And all this is because of the policies and ideologies of Serbian Chauvinism, Anti-Bulgarian Macedonianism and Yugoslav Communism and Titoism, all of them very nasty policies and ideologies pursued for decades in then Yugoslavia. PS: There is no real Macedonian nation and language, and there never was! Everything was created in the years after 1944 and within the borders of the then Yugoslavia, the greatest work of the Comintern after Belarus and Moldova! God created them Bulgarians, Tito made them Macedonians! Only the truth makes us FREE! 🗽☦️🦁🇧🇬

[@gart-media]

​@@bobantheighty6141 I mean I know everything you say is true, but it's not even my biggest problem. I'm coming from the city of Sandanski named after Iane Sandanski. Theoretically and also geographically, this is also Macedonia, not the land of course but the geographical area. When I see all the propaganda driven people in the "former yugoslavic republic of north macedonia" it just saddens me... It's scary what politics and propaganda can do to the consciousness of the people... it is sad to watch. I really wish that the younger generation can snap out of this stupidity. I don't want them to become Bulgarians or to think they are Bulgarians or anything... just realize that you are being lied to and the stories you are being told are a fraud. It is a hard pill to swallow, but it's the truth. And I just wish that we can be friends again, Bulgarians and the people living in that area, whatever they call themselves. Because we are very similar, and we are both good people.

[@jordand1043]

Bulgarian history evil 👿 VIENNA, may 11.- “ Wholesale Execution Of Macedonians “ A dispatch from Constantinople announces the wholesale shooting of the revolutionary MACEDONIANS, including Women.” New York Times Published: May 12,1901 Copyright & New York Times

[@nightrider6136]

Talking about self-identification: Gotse Delchev identified himself as Bulgarian, tsar Samuil was "Tsar of the Bulgarians" even though his fortress is in the territory of nowadays N. Macedonia and Macedonians claim it as their own, the Miladinov brothers gathered "Bulgarian folk songs" from the region even though nowadays their book is claimed as Macedonian and the original title has been changed there as just "Folk songs", poet Nicola Vapsarov has been claimed as Macedonian too and his original verse translated (!) into present day Macedonian to fit the purpose. This is history appropriation and falsification the EU is obviously ready to condone rather than look into.

[@debnadaebna9981]

This is only the half of it! Not only Tsar Samuel was "Macedonian" but also he was "anti-Bulgarian" and fought against Bulgaria...... Westerners don"t even understand how deep is the problem! They are not only stealing Bulgarian history but they are turning it against us! Bulgarians are represented in every scenario as the Bad guys that stole macedonian history, wage wars against some imaginary "macedonia" and most of all we were doing genocide against them........ This goes even now when Bulgaria is "Tatar Mongol fascist" country that stole macedonian land filled with some imaginary macedonians. Do you understand? North Macedonia, is not just a new country, but it is created as an Anti-Bulgarian project! Zoran Zaev, paid to IFIMES in Slovedia to write anti-Bulgarian propaganda like tha. The Nothmacedonian organization UMD is taking money from some charity companies in the USA and do the same propaganda in English to lie foreigners like this one that are arrogant and clueless abot the problem... Georgy Nikolov Delchev (Goce Delchev) was not only Macedonian, this can't be enough, he was also fighting against the enemy Bulgaria... And so on. The problem is way deeper that concerns not only history but present times too! Northmacedonians consider Bulgaria as an enemy and serbia as a friend, the ones that actually did all of tha to them and did an actual genocite against them.

[@nightrider6136]

@@debnadaebna9981 if that's the case, the problem is obviously deeper. Years of conditioning, history falsification and propaganda can do miracles.

[@MoReal2]

Silly question here : how does that endangered Bulgaria as a nation to throw this kind if tantrum.

[@debnadaebna9981]

@@MoReal2 Indeed a silly question.

[@ivanovjordan8889]

9

[@zamf]

Bulgaria's main concerns are that North Macedonia does little to minimize the negative portrayal of Bulgaria within its borders, which poses a threat for hate-related crimes by north macedonians against bulgarians should NM join the EU. Another point in Bulgaria's negotiations is that North Macedonia should admit they're speaking a dialect of the Bulgarian language the same way Austria stated that its official language is German. Bulgarians don't like that history is being rewritten but they've already accepted some of North Macedonia's claims. Every new compromise that Bulgaria is doing with its history is a direct hit on its national identity.

[@ivo2]

exactly that is the problem, how can nobody see it !

[@Stefan_Zdravkovski21]

Firstly who cratered the slav language? It was Kiril and Metodi they say that they are Macedonians not Bulgarians

[@ivo2]

@@Stefan_Zdravkovski21 They might not be Bulgarian either, but Slavic loving half-Slavs that are on friendly terms with the Bulgarian kingdom. But for sure not Macedonian, unless we take the concept that anyone who lived at any point in the Greek province of Macedonia is Macedonian. Which mean almost every Greek living today, and even my grand-parents. But if we take that concept they are Bulgarian too, since they also lived in Bulgaria, and even south Macedonia was part of Bulgaria for about century little later, because if we use the same principle anyone who ever lived within the borders of Bulgarian kingdom they are Bulgarian. So I think both of those concepts are wrong. So their mother was Slavic, which means not Macedonian, and very likely from Bulgaria so she found a Byzantine husband and moved in Thessaloniki, second biggest byzantine city in the empire. So they became eastern roman citizens with half-slavic origin from the Bulgarian slavs. But they didn't forget this origin and loved slavic people and wanted to do something for them. So where do you see Macedonian ethnicity at all?

[@dejanlazarevski3165]

Everyone in EU should now that ОМО Илинден is banned political party by ultranacionalist who easily forget that Tito is dead for nearly 40 years.

[@Turagrong]

Yeah and Slovaks speak Czech That argument about the language is just stupid... Unless the degree of intelligibility between the two is really really high - which I can't comment on. But while Slovak was in the past called "a different standardized form of the Czechoslovak language" - and that was quite correct/appropriate too, one might basically consider it a dialect..., it can also be called a fully-fledged language on its own (because the phonetics is just somewhere else and some portion of vocabulary is also different - maybe on the level of American and British English or more). I don't know about Austrian German but there is some voice it's actually "a different language". And High and Low German are being traditionally distinguished as two languages in comparative linguistics (at Wikipedia and KZbin, I mean :) ). Austrians are in (completely) different situation language-wise than Macedonians. There is (afaik) one _standardized_ German language from Switzerland to the ghost of Königsberg - but the state of North Macedonia doesn't use the standardized Bulgarian language, nor Church Slavonic, they standardized their local dialect. Yes, a one that is admittedly far closer to Bulgarian than to anything else ("it is a language from the Bulgaro-Macedonian continuum", we might say). Or am I mistaken somehow? That's at least the image I got from the trusted sources, about the reality of the Macedonian standardized language... Nevertheless, we Czechs really don't have a problem with the Slovaks saying they speak the Slovak language - as the difference between the two (dialects) is clear. And Austrians call their dialect a dialect because it is a tradition there - the "one and only" standardized German is that one labeled as such by German nationalists (proponents of the one German nation) centuries ago. en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standard_German (Dear Bulgarians, get your facts right before you start to massively use them... ;) ) ...And we have a great example of the Serbian and Croatian (and therefore Bosnian and Montenegrin) languages after all...

[@ДобромирВълов]

Let me ask you a question. Who are Tsar Samuel and Alexander the Great? Macedonians? If they are then you are completely right to portray Greece and Bulgaria as the bad guys. But I believe that according to the official historiography Tsar Samuel is a Bulgarian and Alexander the Great is an ancient Macedonian/Greek that has absolutely no connection to the modern day Macedonians. Do you agree? If you do then you understand that the issue is way deeper and you cannot just point your finger at someone and say he is bad and the other side is good. The main problem that Bulgaria has with North Macedonia is the shameless falsification of Bulgarian history where key Bulgarian figures are stripped of their Bulgarian identity and depicted as ethnic Macedonians with ethnic Macedonian identity. Don't you believe that changing the identity of dead people and basically denying their right of self determination is also bad? Another problem is the furious anti-Bulgarian propaganda that is imposed on the Macedonian citizens through textbooks, media, etc. From very little age the people in Macedonia are taught to hate everything Bulgarian using racial slurs and all kinds of hate speech. A third and also crucial problem is the mistreatment of people with Bulgarian consciousness in North Macedonia. These people are often terrorized by state security agents and police by being asked uncomfortable questions, threatened while also being exposed to constant insults towards Bulgaria and the Bulgarian nation coming exactly from the interrogator. With all this in mind do you think this country is ready for EU? You showed a quote from a Macedonian politician, why didn't you show a quote from a Bulgarian politician? This seems one sided to me. Especially when the Bulgarian politicians stated thousand times that no one denies the Macedonian identity and their right to call their language as they please but of course they should also accept the fact that in the past the majority of the population in Macedonia consisted of Bulgarians, this is easily verifiable and something that the Macedonian historiography denies. The Macedonian language and all its dialects were also considered to be Bulgarian not only by foreign linguists but by the local people as well. These things should be acknowledged by the Macedonian side. Instead they decided to deny all this, distort the history and basically straight up lie to their people about their origin, this is cruel to say the least. All in all this is a very complicated issue so a twelve minute video only raises more questions than it answers. However, you could have tried to present this topic in a more neutral way but instead you chose to point fingers and paint Bulgaria and Greece as the "villains" in this story.

[@dayanbalevski4446]

This is a perfect point for you to consider @James Ker-Lindsay

[@Corc-Duibhne]

Leaving aside the historiograhical details (which I am very ignorant of) and focusing purely on the current political climate (which is the point of this KZbin channel, not history), I believe that Bulgaria is in the wrong. The Macedonian narrative may very well be factually incorrect, but that is a matter for historians and academics to reason and discuss in order to reach the correct conclusion. It should not be dictated by a neighbouring government. As well as being bad politics, and a bad way to study history, it's also counter-intuitive, and is likely to make the North Macedonian people dig their heels in more on whatever false facts that they believe.

[@dayanbalevski4446]

@@Corc-Duibhne You have a right to your opinion, but like you said yourself, you don't know the details nor how deep this goes... What is being presented by North Macedonia is only surface level, tip of the ice berg. Your opinion, is definitely not new or unique and we do consider it in Bulgaria, however we have determined that for Bulgaria and for thr stability of the EU, the pros outweigh the cons.... If they dig their heels more, it is also on them... if they cannot reform and move on from their communist propaganda and anti-Bulgarian sentiments, we see no place for them in the EU at their current stage. Time has shown that North Macedonia dug their heels in for 30 years against Grrek demands, and now they have gradually released their heels... even though there are many signs that they are still breaking the Prespa agreement on a daily basis.

[@ДобромирВълов]

@@Corc-Duibhne The problem is that even if we ignore the historical dispute, we are still left with the other two problems I mentioned in my comment and they cannot be ignored considering the fact that they are in the present and happening right now as we speak. This means that these problems need to be also dealt with before Bulgaria gives a green light to North Macedonia but unfortunately we see no positive sign from the Macedonian side to show us that they are willing to make a change. Another thing is that the roots of these problems lie in the historical dispute, so that makes the historical dispute pretty much impossible to be left out.

[@JamesKerLindsay]

I was careful not to portrayBulgaria as the "bad guy" on the substance of the issues. If you watch again carefully, you will see that I am careful to point out that Yugoslavia and the Macedonian Government have created a very negative image of Bulgaria. (And I deliberately mentioned the Museum of the Macedonian Struggle as I was shocked at how antiBulgarian and anti-Greek it was.) Where I am critical, and I stand by this view, is that Bulgaria has handled the matter very badly.

[@maksivankov4818]

With such friends you don't need enemies! 🇧🇬❤

[@Stefan_Zdravkovski21]

@Parapa TheRapper men firstly learn history than u can speak

[@Anonymous-qx1vd]

@Parapa TheRapper Macedonian identity was created by Greeks

[@bobantheighty6141]

Straight to the point... Macedonia is a name of a divided region, but definitely not the country's name! Reminder: The Republic of North Macedonia was part of that region, but with its only original name as Vardar Macedonia/Вардарска Македония till 1913. After then, the territory of the modern Macedonian state/F.Y.R.O.M./БЮРМ was annexed by Serbia and became Južna Srbija/Southern Serbia with its new name Serbian Banovina/Сръбска Бановина. Following the partition, an anti-Bulgarian campaign was carried out in the areas under Serbian control. As many as 641 Bulgarian schools and 761 churches were closed by the Serbs, while Exarchist clergy and teachers were expelled. The use of Bulgarian (including all Macedonian dialects) was proscribed. Then, within Yugoslavia borders, it was formed as a federal part and named Socialist Federal Republic of Macedonia and later became The Second Youngest State in Europe after Kosovo, established on September 8, 1991 as The Republic of North Macedonia. It's so simple as that that! The original is only one and is called Bulgaria! 👑 ☦️🦁 🇧🇬

[@bobantheighty6141]

@Parapa TheRapper , Hey, Hellenic... Macedonian Empire from the antiquity and Macedonia in nowadays are two completely different things! The first one is a Greek Macedonia of Alexander The Great, a warrior and teacher of Aristotle and the second one, the nowadays MACEDONIA, a region divided between 3 countries now, was predominantly populated by Slavic Macedonians, known and described as Macedonian Bulgarians or just Bulgarians from Macedonian region. Encyclopædia Britannica 📖: "The Slavic-speaking majority in the Region of Macedonia had been referred to (both, by themselves and outsiders) as Bulgarians, and that is how they were predominantly seen since 10th, up until the early 20th century." Only the truth makes us FREE! 🗽☦️🦁🇧🇬

[@bobantheighty6141]

THE FACTS AS THEY ARE... The nowadays territory of Macedonia is a shared region! One part of this region is in Greece (49%). The rest is located in Bulgaria (10%) and the Republic of Macedonia (41%). I reckon, we all know that ! All those regions of Macedonia had been part of The Bulgarian Empire since 681. The people who live in today's Republic of Macedonia (Excluding Albanians 30%, Gypsies 5%, Turks 6%, Vlachs 3,% and Serbs 2%) are pure Bulgarians (about 1,6 million) by God, blood, spirit, culture, physical appearance, DNA and etc. Have the same traditions, characters and folklore ! They are only Macedonians by Tito and by the Serbian textbooks from which they have been taught by children! In all other historical books around Europe mention isn't made of any Macedonian nation lived in these lands, but of Bulgarians from Macedonian region ! So, their origin is Bulgarian by God, their religion is Orthodox Slavic Christians and use a very old West Bulgarian Dialect (not modernized Bulgarian) as their language flavoured with some Serbians letters and ends added to the Bulgarian Cyrillic Alphabet in 1944, just to make it look different from its original Bulgarian West Dialect spoken during that period of time among people in whole Bulgarian part of Macedonia (51% of Macedonian region including Pirinska Macedonia located in Bulgaria and nowadays Republic of Macedonia known also as a FYROM). We must state ... The FYROMS don't have nothing in common with ancient Macedonia, with Greece, Alexander The Great or the Greek history in general. All well educated and historically prepared people know it very well ! Yes, Republic of Macedonia must change the name, because they don't have the right to claim the name Macedonia for themselves when they've actually been part of the Bulgarian nation and history from the very beginning as Bulgarians! We could simply classify them as brainwashed people.

[@greektruth376]

Thanks Bulgarians that did what our government did not did. 🇬🇷🤝🇧🇬

[@BatkoNashBandera774]

It's okay we'll be coming to reclaim Thessaloniki next.

[@ТеодорДинев-ц4з]

Psevdo makedoni falscjifikare

[@coffeerider786]

​@@BatkoNashBandera774 ride your donkeys and come

[@КонстантинВениер]

@@BatkoNashBandera774 will you be requiring Greece's Air force for support which is currently in charge of your air defence or are you just going on foot?

[@BatkoNashBandera774]

@@КонстантинВениер we're BUlgarians, we're coming on horseback.. no air support. We live and die on the horse.

[@anatolistoimenov1229]

Lets say it is like that. English people saying to French people that Napoleon was English and if French people deny it they are bad people.

[@Kafei01]

I'm French and if English want Napoleon, OK, let them have that, don't care, does not change my life. Napoleon is not the thing France has to be proud of. (but I get your point)

[@anatolistoimenov1229]

@@Kafei01 It is not like it is important, but it is not historical. It is not accurate. It is just not okey.

[@dinos9607]

@@Kafei01 _I'm French and if English want Napoleon, OK, let them have that, don't care, does not change my life_ OK so to understand this better in this example, it would not just be that the English would demand the heritage of Napoleon. Alongside with this absurd demand they would demand also YOUR land, YOUR house and the holes of your female relatives. You? Thrown in some sewage after being having your eyes removed. Get it now?

[@aleksplavcev8044]

@@babatigosho6214 in Western Europe people dont have that stupid mentality like the Balkans ... they have orher things to do

[@seyl717]

@@babatigosho6214 BOOM 🔥 Savage 🤣

[@andin3720]

Theoretically you can make a separate language out of every village in the Balkan!

[@govegan6682]

@Wake No. how about stop halting the economic progress of 2 million people (+5.8 million if you include Albania) for petty reasons, and settle the disputes after that.

[@rawka_7929]

@@govegan6682 bulgaria wants to settle the dispute before that so it doesn't get into the EU solve the dispute early ya know

[@babatigosho6214]

@@govegan6682 Thats not how it works buddy ...they need to accept the reality and stop the propaganda that their whole country is build and thrive on and then they can think about entering in the EU

[@TzvetozarCherkezov]

@@govegan6682 Those 2 mln people are halting their own progress. And they've been doing it for 30 years after Communism fell. Every other post-Communist country came to terms with the Communist propaganda the states had spread during Communist times. The only one that still does that, is NM. This is unacceptable - both in the EU and in the 21st century. NM can enter the EU when they clean up their act. Not before.

[@ПетровичИванИванов]

Theoretically only. Practically it will be a dialect. Now, obviously present day Macedonian language differs Bulgarian. But in the past - until Tito started differences - it was simply Bulgarian.

[@klimatvarna3898]

You've missed the main point! We as bulgarians know the present day situation. Today most of them identify with their own country. But thats not the case with their grandparents, and national heroes. It's like someone to say that your grandfather has nothing to do with you and your mother. That's how they present it in the history books, museums, statues. We want this hatred to stop!

[@JamesKerLindsay]

Thanks. But it’s not quite as simple as that. This is still challenging their national identity, but just in a more subtle and less direct way. You are saying that they can call themselves Macedonians, but that you want them to acknowledge they are really Bulgarians. This is why history is so important. When you demand that they explicitly call their leading figures Bulgarian you are cementing their identity as Bulgarian, whether they call themselves that today or not. Now, I’m not saying Bulgaria is necessarily wrong to say that they are Bulgarian. But I do believe that blocking EU membership is wrong and counterproductive.

[@petargeorgiev7965]

@@JamesKerLindsay So what so you suggest if not the Veto? These people are clearly denying some people's right for self declaration as Bulgarian. This is not a new issue it was just put to the side for some time, but the things are getting worse with the time with north Macedonia declaring more and more people for being "Macedonian" and not Bulgarian.

[@JamesKerLindsay]

@@petargeorgiev7965 Seriously, does it really matter this much? Take a step back for a moment. On the list of world’s problems, how far up does this rank? More to the point, it is now doing more harm to Bulgaria’s international image than any good that can come from getting Macedonians to acknowledge the identity that they clearly don’t want - and Bulgaria is giving them little reason to want to want!

[@exaltedhordes6385]

​@@JamesKerLindsay The challenge to national identity is not being made by Bulgaria against Macedonia. It is precisely the other way around. The modern Macedonian state is posthumously trying to change the identity of people long dead, who cannot defend themselves. Luckily however those people have very often left abundant written material themselves extremely clearly stating what they were, and just as importantly other peoples worldwide have left just as abundant written material on the subject. And yet the Macedonists continue this despicable practice.

[@exaltedhordes6385]

​@@JamesKerLindsay The fate of the Bulgarians in Macedonia has been the absolute number 1 international issue of the Bulgarian state ever since it regained independence from the Ottomans in 1878. You are a professor of South East European politics and you don't know that?

[@andreydimitrov8566]

The title is very misleading. Look, whatever some extreme nationalist circles would say the vast majority of Bulgarians do not argue the existence and self determination of a new political and national entity west of them. But also the vast majority of Bulgarians do not agree with such entity existing in its ethogenesis solely by virtue of tarring, stealing and manipulating Bulgarian history. The examples are numerous.

[@maksampece947]

The comments say otherwise. I also find it funny how you state that the majority of Bulgarians disagree that the nation exists solely through manipulating Bulgarian history, yet the vast majority of Bulgarians ( *> 80%* alpharesearch.bg/api/uploads/Articles%202020/Oct%20-%20North%20Macedonia/Oct20_North_Macedonia_Report.pdf ) were completely okay with this explanatory memorandum that states: "According to the official Bulgarian view of history, people of Slavic descent who live in North Macedonia are Bulgarians who speak the Bulgarian language but were brainwashed during the Josip Broz Tito's communist regime in the former Yugoslavia and were artificially given a new "Macedonian" identity and language in the process." (www.dw.com/en/bulgaria-asks-eu-to-stop-fake-macedonian-identity/a-55020781) Which is *exactly what you are trying to argue isn't the case* ... Interesting how now that you have to defend your position in front of informed people, you suddenly shift the goalposts and argue that you never had problem with the language in the first place.

[@VolleyballExplained]

@@maksampece947 This is a fact. They were Bulgarians (at least a very big portion of them). However brainwashed (or not) they have a right of self-determination today. And they are a new nation. They have totally the right of that. But they don't have the right to argue for not being in the same nation like Bulgarians and they do not have the right to argue that there is a "macedonian" minority in South-West Bulgaria. That's it.

[@maksampece947]

@@VolleyballExplained So you disagree with the original comment?

[@VolleyballExplained]

@@maksampece947 No, I don't disagree. I am an example for that - I don't argue their existence and right of self-determination, still I don't agree with them denying, but also twisting or stealing our common history . The father of the former foreign minister of Macedonia said at the end of the 20th century: "Macedonians should not be ashamed of their 13-century existence as Bulgarians. Those who made the Macedonians deny their history, language and people should be ashamed." Of course, the comment goes a bit too far, but it's a fact that their political "life" as a country and nation is mostly built on historical lies which concern Bulgaria and Greece (Greece not that much after 2017).

[@maksampece947]

@@VolleyballExplained I get your point but it seems that I was a bit ambigous in my comment. I was referring to the second point - "the vast majority of Bulgarians do not agree with such entity existing in its ethnogenesis solely by virtue of tarring, stealing and manipulating". This is the crux of the issue because it represents how much Bulgarians are willing to compromise, and it is sadly absolutely untrue (and I provided a source which suggests at least 80% of Bulgarians actually believe this). In other words, at least 80 % of Bulgarians believe NM is entirely a result of post-1945 propaganda. Do you agree that NM is entirely the result of post-1945 propaganda?

[@AnonimenBGVN]

Surface level knowledge of the problem, shown by the author. You have to go way earlier than ottoman rule to find the problem. Repulic of North Macedonia twists proven historical facts. Same as they did with "antiquisation". Simply because the state dont want to acknowledge there is no macedonian nation in reality.

[@DeathLessBoss]

You dont know history do you

[@AnonimenBGVN]

@@DeathLessBoss tell me your view. Lets debate

[@raywrathdemon7852]

Macedonia, as old as the Sun ❤🍻🇲🇰🍻❤

[@LepriconKiller]

@@DeathLessBoss OK Tito

[@bobantheighty6141]

The people in North Macedonia still live with the memories of being part of Yugoslavia. While all other ex-republics broke up with that utopia, Skopje is still crying about that passed time no matter they were the poorest member of that fake union and the backyard of Serbia and Tito's regime. Only the truth makes us FREE! 🗽☦️🦁🇧🇬

[@ДжакетиЛув]

I'm Welsh 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 living in Bulgaria, and while I understand about 80% of Bulgarian, I understand about 75% of Macedonian: it's literally dialects of the same language, many of the different words came about through influence from the different regimes after the separation. I was also raised in Turkey and learnt Ottoman History well enough to know that there there was no ethnic group called 'Macedonians' during Ottoman rule in this region: mainly Bulgarians, Greeks, Turks and Jews - check the census records if you would like proof. It was only during the time of Yugoslavia that the propaganda of a Macedonian nation came into being, and the grandchildren of those very same Ottoman Bulgarians started identifying as 'Macedonians' accordingly. My husband's great-grandparents from one side were from Skopje and they apparently confirmed this: the older generation remembers the truth. Just as Yorkshire is a region of England with its own dialect, I believe Macedonia is the same for Bulgaria: it's just geopolitics that started all of this, like pretty much every conflict in the world✌🏻

[@cv990a4]

While it is true that for hundreds of years, "Macedonia" was not a term used to describe that geography, the revival of that identity pre-dates Yugoslavia and goes back to Greece and Serbia. "Macedonia" was revived as a concept by Greek nationalists, who promulgated the idea that the Slavs living in that part of the world were "Slavic-speaking Greeks". These Greeks had the idea that they could reincorporate the area into a wider concept of Greece. This initial identification then became useful to the Serbs. Serbia captured the area of North Macedonia, and was committed to Serbianization of its territories, which it applied vigorously to almost everyone it captured. Since its independence, the Serbian nation had a very clear idea that Serbia needed to be bigger and that everyone it captured needed to be Serbian. "Macedonian" identity was seen as a way to separate these people from their Bulgarian cousins, as part of a multi-step process. I.e. ethnic Bulgarian -> Macedonian -> Serbian. So, Bulgarian identity was suppressed vigorously by Serbia, with Macedonian offered as an alternative. This continued under the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. Under Socialist Yugoslavia, Tito was committed to permitting minorities to express themselves, so Macedonians finally got a shot at running their own Republic - but again, it was in Yugoslavia's interests to promote the separate Macedonian identity, because if they were Bulgarians, well, that would mean they belonged to Bulgaria. All of this is interesting but besides the point. Self determination is a thing. Whether the Macedonian identity is authentic or whether it's the result of 100+ years of gaslighting by Serbs and Yugoslavia, it doesn't matter. Macedonians could be identical DNA copies of Bulgarians, but if they want to go their own way, that's up to them.

[@darkodraco]

why do western europeans insist on moving to slavic countries, is it because your country has no culture and you speak a basic langauge? You’re not slavic caucasian asian or african get outp

[@zlatkokovach7862]

That's a lie, there were and are Macedonians. And there is a Macedonian language regardless of the percentage of how you understand it. #NeverNorthOnlyMacedonia

[@ДжакетиЛув]

@@zlatkokovach7862 Like I wrote above: Macedonians as a regional group yes, Macedonians as a separate country no. And scholars only started considering Macedonian as a separate language during the Yugoslavia time and before that it was always known as a Bulgarian dialect. The Serbs did to that area what the Russians did to 'Moldova': they created a new identity in an overlapping region to create future conflicts where they can stick their finger in. If you had a time machine and were able to speak with your great-great grandparents, they would tell you they are Bulgarian Citizens of the Ottoman Empire because that's exactly what they were. Check the census records if you would like proof. I'm not trying to argue here, I'm just being direct.

[@zlatkokovach7862]

@@ДжакетиЛув As I wrote above, you are a liar. The Macedonians are not a "regional group" but an ethnos/people who speak their own Macedonian language. There are literally thousands of sources throughout the historical periods that prove this. In addition, the Ottoman census did not record ethnicities but "millets" (church community members) and "conveniently" the Macedonian church was closed because of pressure by the Greek church due to debt. You are not trying to argue because you have no arguments.

[@diyandraganov2660]

In my opinion, the most important thing from the dispute between Bulgaria and Northern Macedonia has been missed. Bulgaria does not dispute the right to self-determination. Macedonians can call themselves Martians, if they choose, they have that right. Bulgaria disputes the falsification of Bulgarian History by the northern Macedonians. They do not have this right. In the same way, Greece vetoed them when they falsified Greek history. Historical figures from the geographical area of ​​Macedonia, for whom there are accurate and clear documents, have identified themselves, as Bulgarians were Macedonianized in the Northern Republic of Macedonia with a late date. This is absolutely unacceptable. And besides - in the Northern Republic of Macedonia since Yugoslav times, cruel terror and repression has been imposed on anyone who identifies himself as a Bulgarian. This terror is still going on, albeit covertly. Before, people who said they were Bulgarians were imprisoned and killed, but today they are fired and isolated. If Europe thinks this is acceptable in the 21th century, it can only mean that Europe has a problem with democracy. Therefore, not Bulgaria, but the whole of Europe must insist that the Northern Republic of Macedonia start respecting democratic principles and human rights before they are adopted.

[@keftethegreek3004]

Macedonia is Greek

[@diyandraganov2660]

@@keftethegreek3004 Which Macedonia are you talking about, friend? Macedonia itself is just a geographical area that does not even coincide with historical Macedonia. For example, is the city of Plovdiv in Bulgaria Greek? And is Thessaloniki Bulgarian? Let's not confuse the concepts. You Greeks recognized Northern Macedonia - we are talking about this country. The same territory that falls into Serbian hands, precisely because of you Greeks.

[@keftethegreek3004]

@@diyandraganov2660 let's be for real. History speaks for itself that the name of Macedonia leads far back to ancient Greek history. The people of FYROM have nothing to do with the original history of the region. The Balkan wars fucked things up. The greek people never accepted that a neighboring nation stole their history and origin, especially northern Greeks. No one in Europe was such a coward to conclude that they belong to a nation and civilization they never were part of. No Germanic poeple started to say they were francs. So just stop saying that Slavs (in the south Balkans) were ever part of a civilization like Makedonia. Serbs are Serbs...they always were. Bulgarians have their own historical origin as well. *North Macedonians* never belonged to Macedonia. They just happened to revolt in the Ottoman times in a region that belonged historically and originally to an other nation (Greece).

[@keftethegreek3004]

@Kv N2O The mistake was trying to steal Bulgaria and Greek territory by stealing Greek history and Bulgarian language.

[@geoeconomics5629]

Yugoslavs only love Macedonia

[@Feinei]

As someone who is Bulgarian, having never read Macedonian, I was perfectly able to read and understand the text shown at 9:10 I would assume any macedonian would also not have issues reading bulgarian texts

[@constanceone]

The Bulgarian Alphabet has some different characters to the Macedonian Alphabet. Not completely identical.

[@georgimihaylov5432]

@@constanceone They are completely identical. The Russian comintern removed a couple of letters and added a couple. The "languages" are mutually intelligible for a reason, one is a Bulgarian dialect.

[@Feinei]

@@constanceone I didn't say it's the same. I said I can read it

[@DeepSpaceMystery]

Im Macedonian and i can't read bulgarian they have diferent alphabeth.

[@constanceone]

@@georgimihaylov5432 According to your logic, Bulgarian must be a dialect of Russian, the languages are mutually intelligible.

[@raisetheblack6991]

Hello Professor! If you are actually interested in the dispute between us, I strongly suggest the book Black Hand Over Europe by Henri Pozzi. It may help you understand our position better. Henri Pozzi was a French lawyer, politician, diplomat and author who worked for the French and British secret services in the Balkans and Eastern Europe.

[@JamesKerLindsay]

Thanks so much for the suggestion. Really appreciated! I will look for it.

[@bobantheighty6141]

Genocide over the Macedonian Bulgarians in Ex Yugoslavia In memory of 23,000 killed in Yugoslavia and another 130,000 Bulgarians, who were deported, expelled or sent to the Goli Otok/Голи Оток concentration camp or Idrizovo prison/затвора Идризово. Henri Pozzi on the methods of torture in the former Yugoslavia: Suddenly, everything I was told in Zagreb, Sofia, Belgrade about the methods of interrogation used in Serbian prisons: nose and ears cut out, palms and soles tightened, nipples pinched with hot pliers, genital rupture, red-hot irons, laid on the waist and under the feet - they returned to my memory. Reminder: Henri Pozzi (1879-1946) (BG/MK: Анри Пози) is a French politician, diplomat and publicist. He comes from an old family of Protestants. His mother was an Englishwoman, the direct heiress of the noble Hampden family, who gave England prominent political figures, including Oliver Cromwell. The journalist Pozzi served for nearly thirty years in the French and British intelligence services in the Balkans and Central Europe, including ten years in charge of the Balkan secret services at Le Tan. He is known for his 1934 book Black Hand Over Europe, published in Bulgarian as "Войната се завръща" and in French as "La Guerre Revient", in which he describes in detail the Serbian atrocities against the peaceful and the predominant Bulgarian population in the then Vardar Macedonia. He also draws attention to Serbian propaganda among Croats and Bosniaks in Royal Yugoslavia. PS: Every nail in the coffin of Macedonianism is an ointment for a suffering mother Bulgaria and her child Macedonia. God created them Bulgarians, Tito made them Macedonians. And after all, we may say: This is so big disaster indeed! Link: kzbin.info/www/bejne/oKuQZ2hjhN93p6M We will not forget, we will not forgive! Only the truth makes us FREE! 🗽☦️🦁🇧🇬

[@bobantheighty6141]

For the Macedonian Bulgarians, including myself too, the Genocide over the Macedonian Bulgarians in Ex Yugoslavia is the saddest page in our glorious Bulgarian history, a great, hard and tortured struggle, soaked with a lot of blood and thirst for Freedom and Independence from the Ottoman Slavery, Serbian Rule & Chauvinism and Yugoslav Genocide and Tito's Communism! ☦️🦁🇧🇬🖤 In memory of 23,000 killed in Yugoslavia and another 130,000 Bulgarians, who were deported, expelled or sent to the Goli Otok/Голи Оток concentration camp or Idrizovo prison/затвора Идризово. Reminder: Goli Otok is an island in northern Dalmatia, now in Croatia, where one of the communist-era concentration camps in the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia was built. Most of the campers exiled in it are Macedonian Bulgarians and Bulgarians from the Western Suburbs/Западните Покрайнини, now located in Serbia. The Great Revolutionary Panko Brashnarov/Панко Брашнаров died here. Another Great Macedonian Bulgarian - Venko Markovski/Венко Марковски, spent five years in Tito's concentration camp (1956-1961), and in 1984 in the United States he published his memoirs in a book entitled Naked Swelling - The Island of Death. We will not forget, we will not forgive! FREEDOM FOR BULGARIANS IN NORTH MACEDONIA! 🗽☦️🦁🇧🇬

[@Bloody12111993]

@@user-gg3ex4ld9e Agree with the first part about bulgarians. But macedonians come from Greece

[@voskreglavincevska3651]

@@bobantheighty6141 How he ( the spy Mr Pozzi) could have known about genocide in Goli Otok my dear , when he died 1946 ? All deployed ministers and administrative Bulgarian and Serbian staff have gone out of officialy Vardar Banovina and after that from registered Republic Macedonia in 1945 , humbled ! As the matter of prisoners in Goli Otok they took place later on because of macedonian separatist called vrhovist , ( real macedonians but for Bulgarian option ) Macedonia to become Bulgarian part post WW2 ! Bulgari to retake Macedonia from Serbia ha ha ha ha ! It was a big shame ! Like today you have speeches in your patliament "sšti hora sme Blgari " calling macedonians , brothers with regret even macedonia is independent country ! Ha ha ha ha ! As soon as Yugoslavian Federation was settled of course it has own way of conducting ! There wasn't any options to be together Yugoslavia and Bulgaria with SSSR ! Yugoslavia was non aligned federation with respect and diferent chalenge for running socialism ! It is very pity to put Tito together with Stalin's ideology ! All those vrhovistic families are still making troubles ! Even Bulgaria is in EU , they are still working for KGB with honour ! All the time are in KZbin making posts and regreting for Bulgaria di San Stefano and Tsar Boris ! ****************** Bolgari raskrileni na tri moreta Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha I blgarski ezik od Kamçatka do Apenini od Hitler aminuvan ! Amin Gospode da moźe nekoj da ve rehabilitira od toa gnasno minato ! Skraja da e ! Ve žalime ama ništo ne može da se izbriše deka bevte genocidni so Hitler! Jas da sum blgarka ke mi e stram zbor eden da napišam na KZbin ! Kako bre ķe go skriete toa fašističkoto vo vas ? ****************** "ZEMJATA VI PRIZNAVAME AMA VIE DA PRIZNAETE DEKA STE BLGARI " ! Lele male mila male !

[@Bultras12-CA]

I am sorry James, but quite inaccurate and missed the point. Bulgaria doesn't dispute the existance of the Macedonian nation. It is a fact! The issue is that the current narrative in RNM denies the past shared history and historic roots of the nation, building the new identity based on Bulgarophobia. Btw I am mixed Mac/Bul living in Canada. Cheers!

[@JamesKerLindsay]

So, it does contest the existence of a Macedonian nation. It says you can call yourselves Macedonians, but you are really Bulgarians. I’m not sure why this logic is so hard to realise? Or maybe people who make this argument do know it, but assume outsiders can’t see through it!?

[@bobantheighty6141]

Let us recall the great phrase of Edward Lincoln: You can lie to a few people all the time, you can lie to all people for a short time, but you can't lie to all people all the time! Reminder: Brainwashing for the existence of some Macedonian nation is a complete disaster! Only true facts can stop all those lies from decades in Yugoslavia and nowadays North Macedonia. Only the truth makes us FREE! 🗽☦️🦁🇧🇬

[@bobantheighty6141]

For more information on the Macedonian Question, please see the links as follow. Link 1: Ana Paula Zacarias kzbin.info/www/bejne/hZmwfqKGiJymhpY Link 2: Oppressed Bulgarians kzbin.info/www/bejne/g3zHqZ2tmpasmaM Link 3: Oppressed Bulgarians kzbin.info/www/bejne/oKuQZ2hjhN93p6M Link 4: Prof. Miroslav Grčev kzbin.info/www/bejne/p3i9omaNedKnrKs Link 5: Pseudo Macedonians kzbin.info/www/bejne/eZy1i62vZ7Gsirc Link 6: Prof. Ivo Hristov kzbin.info/www/bejne/bWKUmZ-IhMaSoa8 Link 7: Jovan Babunski kzbin.info/www/bejne/naOyqoGJrdhghJo Link 8: The genocide of the Bulgarians in Yugoslavia kzbin.info/www/bejne/q4HEiJqpfNyoqdU Link 9: Prof. Bozhidar Dimitrov kzbin.info/www/bejne/haq7dHhrd9-SsKc Link 10: Serbian Historian kzbin.info/www/bejne/aGS2XpWXgtCXrtE Link 11: Petar Kolev kzbin.info/www/bejne/f4G8oIx8aLNkj68 Link 12: Georgi Tsarnomarov kzbin.info/www/bejne/j2HQfGaLYs1ghck Link 13: Igor Markovski kzbin.info/www/bejne/p2K1qq1_otZ2rtk Link 14: Prof. Daniel Vachkov kzbin.info/www/bejne/epDHhHuqh89mo7s Link 15: Lyubcho Neshkov kzbin.info/www/bejne/nqaydn6larutebc Link 16: Macedonian Almanac kzbin.info/www/bejne/q6uTiad6p5iEaaM Link 17: Bulgarians from VMRO i.postimg.cc/W3TX1M4s/130192795-1669480123234562-3932622174050072920-n.jpg Link 18: Unification of Vardar Macedonia with Mother Bulgaria. kzbin.info/www/bejne/i6fKqGWAgappqdk Link 19: The Bulgarian Army liberates Vardar Macedonia during WW2 kzbin.info/www/bejne/hJybZZ9nZat2d7M Link 20: The Bulgarian Army dance horo with the locals in the town of Resen. kzbin.info/www/bejne/Z4K6d6aooa-obK8 Link 21: The Bulgarian army was welcomed in Skopje as a liberator in 1941. kzbin.info/www/bejne/omjQgouBpb6kp6M Encyclopedia Britannica 📖: "The Slavic-speaking majority in the Region of Macedonia had been referred to (both, by themselves and outsiders) as Bulgarians, and that is how they were predominantly seen since 10th, up until the early 20th century." We need to be very clear: The honor of the thousands of Bulgarians who died for the Freedom of Macedonian region from Ottoman Slavery is not subject to negotiations and never will be! The Macedonian Bulgarians have always been one of our best Bulgarians in spirit and heart - proud, strong and unyielding! There is no way, Bulgaria to let into the European Union those who have not officially recognized the genocide of the Bulgarians in then Tito's Yugoslavia, the desecration of Bulgarian monuments and shrines, as well as, the language of hatred, directed at the Bulgarian people and the state of Bulgaria, springing from all kinds of media. The manipulation, distorted interpretation and the obvious falsification of Bulgarian history, just to be shown that some "Macedonian" nation, created entirely in an artificial way is a real fact, exists and has a real basis on which to step are absolutely inadmissible and unacceptable! By denying everything Bulgarian that existed before 1944 and after in these lands, to be established and solidified an entirely new identity of the local population, as Macedonians, through Macedonianism - a nasty ideology which manages successfully to turn the regional affiliation of the Bulgarians from the Macedonian region into a national one, through a massive and long process, named Brainwashing. Only the truth makes us FREE! 🗽 ☦️🦁🇧🇬

[@babatigosho6214]

@@bobantheighty6141 Yes,the truth about the past not only contest,but completely expose the truth about their present...i already told you that and asked you why is this Bulgaria's problem and you didn't answer it?

[@debnadaebna9981]

@@constanceone Bulgaria actually has similar flag to Italy since our Georgy Rakovski got the idea from that flag.. Bulgar is NOT a Turkic term and the modern science disprove such a thing. Neither old Bulgarians or new ones has anything to do with Turkic tribes. It is already proven by international team of scientists that Proto-Bulgarians had 100% WESTeurasian genome. We didn"t had any ruler such as khan asparukh... We had Isperih Knaz (Исперих кнѧз), Esperih Knaz (Есперих кнѧз), Ispor Tsar (Испор Цар). He was complete Eastern European type, not mongol as you have offended his memory... Vlado Chernozemski was Bulgarian, from Velingrad and he was part of the Bulgarian VMRO "Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (IMRO), Macedonian Vatreshna Makedonska-Revolutsionerna Organizatsiya(VMRO), Bulgarian Vŭtreshna Makedono-Odrinska Revolutsionna Organizatsiya (VMRO), secret revolutionary society that was active in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its many incarnations struggled with two contradictory goals: establishing Macedonia as an autonomous state on the one hand and promoting Bulgarian political interests on the other. IMRO was founded in 1893 in Thessaloníki; its early leaders included Damyan Gruev, Gotsé Delchev, and Yane Sandanski, men who had a Macedonian regional identity and a Bulgarian national identity."" www.britannica.com/topic/Internal-Macedonian-Revolutionary-Organization And let me repeat that sentence for you: "... men who had a Macedonian regional identity and a Bulgarian national identity.""

[@liliailinova4092]

To make it a bit more clear for the westerners I'll give you a similar example:If the people in Bavaria decide to split from Germany and claim they have nothing in common with this country and call their dialect Bavarian language but not German what will you consider?Yes, they have the right of self determination but not pervert and falsify the history. Nobody can change the past - not even the so called Macedonians.

[@nenadristovski3358]

What they changing ? If grand father told.you are Macedonian what is there to change, that what his grand father.told.him and.so.on what changing you speaking , if we.do not kept the heritage we would be erased.with so many wars on this teritory, and you tell.me.this country changing history,.big forces winners changing history, not Macedonians

[@bobantheighty6141]

For more information regarding the Macedonian Question and the dispute of Bulgaria with North Macedonia, please read The White Book/Бялата Книга. In this book, Bulgarians from Serbia, North Macedonia, Bulgaria and Albania unite their efforts to explain properly and with very substantiated facts the whole truth about Slavic Macedonia and its Bulgarian character and roots. Please, always make difference between present-day Macedonia with a predominant Bulgarian/Slavic population and the Ancient Macedonia of Alexander the Great, populated with the Greek tribe named Makedon. The only thing the two Macedonians have in common is the Greek word Macedonia/Μακεδόνια. Reminder: Serbian politics after 1944 conducted by Tito instilled a new ethnic consciousness in Vardar Macedonia/Вардарска Македония. 30 years after its independence, this Belgrade policy for a new identity among Macedonian Bulgarians, built on an anti-Bulgarian basis and on the bones of tens of thousands of Bulgarians who died for the freedom of the fatherland from Turkish Slavery, still continues to exist in present-day North Macedonia. In fact, this is the same Vardar Macedonia, but turned into a communist state in the then Tito's Yugoslavia and with a very strong expression of Anti-Bulgarian handwriting and behavior. PS: God created them Bulgarians, Tito made them Macedonians! Only the truth makes us FREE! 🗽☦️🦁🇧🇬

[@123skillax]

@@nenadristovski3358 if my grandfather told me I was macedonian I will call my self macedonian . BUT . If we start allowing a country to take our history . What’s next we are going to allow our “friendly neighbours” to say we killed and ethnically cleansed people in that region and put a dark spot in our history so they c an hide away from what they did ? , protecting this means we are not allowing our neighbours walk over us . We seen what happened before . We are not going to allow the same thing happen . We accept Macedonia we then ALSO lose more of our land . Many westerners and the Yugoslavian countries are in denial . As THEY caused this .

[@deadlyqueen]

@@nenadristovski3358 what's changed is that they are in fact Bulgarian and their schools indoctrinate children with fake history

[@samraosmanovska4077]

@@123skillax Matters such as history and language are internal and no one country should be blackmailed to accept a foreign country's genocidal agenda. THATS IT. Identity cannot be negotiated.

[@ПетровичИванИванов]

Now, some historical topics of that very serios analysis of the author of that videomust be corrected. Yes, Bulgaria made several attempts, as a state, to sieze the territory of the Macedionia region, but that is only the top of the iceberg. Bulgaria made those attempts not on Balkan imperialistic reasons, but to liberate the Bulgarians from Macedonia - first from the Ottoman Empire, and secondly from the Serbian domination and occupation. VMRO (something like IRA in Ireland, but not so terroristic) were created as a BULGARIAN organization and always been such, except one Comintern controled branch in the 1930-ies... If you want historical proves, there is pletora of them. When Bulgaria entered the WWI, more than 30 000 Macedonians deserted the Serbian army, where they had to serve, and joined the Bulgarian army as volunteers. More than 70 000 Bulgarians born in Macedonia volunteered in the Bulgarian army and even a separate Macedonian division were organized. In the early 1850-ies, a political activity and struggle for reviving the Bulgraian church within the Ottoman Empire started exactly from Macedonia and by Macedonian Bulgarians. More than 1000 Bulgarian schools (about 1.5 milion population of Macedonia) were opened in Macedonia within the Ottoman Empire. All Macedonian local municipalities, which have been allowed in the Christian Balkan areas of the Ottoman Empire (so called Rumeli Beilerbeilik) were Bulgarian. NOT A SINGLE MACEDONIAN. The word Macedonian simply and ever meant a person, who lives in Macedonia (Bulgarian, Turk, Greek, Albanian, and even Serb), and nothing else. But the most important thing is - and here I will use capital letters - TO ESTABLISH ULGARIAN EXARCHAETE IN 1870, 2/3 OF THE POPULATION HAD TO VOTE FOR IT, i.e. to declare Bulgarian identity. Here is the map of that terrotorial space: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bulgarian_Exarchate#/media/File:Bulgarian-Exarchate-1870-1913.jpg

[@yavortashev]

This is the most accurate comment - opposed to the lack of reasoning in the video.

[@TinyCloud90]

But if this is the case since I’m ethnically Serbian living in n. Macedonia couldn’t like Serbia also claim the same as Bulgarians do? Just asking since it’s kinda getting wierd

[@azti6205]

@@TinyCloud90 The question is reasonable but during that time the Serbian population in the territory was not that much compared to the Bulgarians.

[@nikisapundzhiev5694]

@@TinyCloud90 indeed - you could claim Macedonia is Serbian. As well as the Greeks could claim Macedonia is Serbian. This is the reason why Bulgaria was the very first country in the world to declare Macedonia as a separate state. There is no argument nowadays at all that North Macedonia is Bulgarian. Not at all. North Macedonia is an independent country. Period. The argument is not on that at all. The argument is that the Macedonian nation exists and was invented in 1945, and all the names in the North Macedonian history books are either Bulgarian, Serbian or Greek. Or none of the above, but definitely not "Macedonian" simply because they were born on this land, or because, as Bulgaria claims and proves with documents, were fighting for the bulgarian interests on that land. It is not acceptable that Goze Delchev, Tsar Samuil or Emperor Konstantin (who has a statue in Skopie) are Macedonians. That is what the problem is.

[@TinyCloud90]

@@nikisapundzhiev5694 yeah but at that time it didn’t matter who the king was, he ruled over land and people no matter what they where. Car dusan ruled over skopje, but the people weren’t all Serbian. It’s not that easy to say. I’d why I’m discussing this on the internet 😂 it’s just a complicated mess and you can see it from whatever side it’s still a mess 😂 no matter what i still love this mess as it is my home

[@vacancyinterest4557]

This is a newly established country and as all countries it needs a national identity. The problem is that this newly established country has decided to build its national identity by stealing the history of other nations and distorting history in such a schizophrenic manner. First it had a long standing dispute with Greece over its name (Macedonia). They were saying that Macedonians were not Greeks but it was something else, despite the overwhelming historical evidence that disputed their claims. Now it has a dispute with Bulgaria because it say that its language is macedonian language, when it is pretty obvious that they speak a Bulgarian dialect.

[@bobantheighty6141]

The only mistake, but big one, the Greeks made during the Cold War was that they kept quiet during all that time while their Serbian mates were processed and crushing the Bulgarians in Yugoslavia and mainly in The Socialist Federal Republic of Macedonia - North Macedonia nowadays. Serbian propaganda taught the Macedonian Bulgarians that they were not Bulgarians, but Macedonians and heirs of The Alexander the Great! To get to the present day, when the little, but already brainwashed little lion, raised by a Serbian stepmother, bites everyone else who is not part of Yugoslavian family and shows aggression even towards his own, real but forgotten Bulgarian mother! Even now, the Greeks still do not dare to say out loud that the Serbs are at the root of the whole problem regarding the Macedonian Question! The fear of angering their ally in the Balkans is costing them their annoyances with North Macedonia at present! Last, but not least... Now, we all pay the bills for that madness happened during the cold war. Of course, there is no Macedonian nation and language in real. Everything else is a blah-blah silly stories and propaganda from the purest kind. PS: For more information always read official and worldwide recognised sources only! Only the truth spoken aloud makes us truly FREE! 🗽☦️🦁🇧🇬

[@vacancyinterest4557]

@@bobantheighty6141 The Greeks had reacted diplomatically and that's all they could do at that time. What should they have done? Start a war? It was a province of Yugoslavia. Greece had no leverage over Yugoslavia during the cold war as they were in opposing alliances. If any, Bulgaria had more leverage over Yugoslavia because at least they were at the same team during the cold war!

[@bobantheighty6141]

@@vacancyinterest4557 , I fully agree with you, but we were not in an alliance with Yugoslavia never! That is why we don't become a part of Yugoslavia when in 1948, Stalin pressured Tito and Georgi Dimitrov to unite Yugoslavia and Bulgaria into a common federation. A little reminder: Not only because of Vardar Macedonia, we were always enemies with the Surbs and then with Yugoslavia too! During the Cold War, Yugoslavia pursued a double policy - both with the West and with the East. So, the people from Yugoslavia could travel to the west and enjoyed the benefits of both worlds. Just imagine it figuratively, as some an easy woman, flirting and courted with gifts from different men! Only thanks to the Russians, Bulgaria and Yugoslavia did not fight at that time, because of the crushing of the Bulgarians there. Same as NATO at the moment, which does not allow Turks and Greeks to fight for the Aegean islands. Our army in the Eastern Bloc was the largest after Russian and East German ones and the most heavily armed with Scud missiles with longer range, aimed straight at destroying Istanbul and Ankara in Turkey and Tito's bunker in Yugoslavia. The Mother Nature has always been with the Bulgarians too, because Bulgaria owns most of the water sources in the Balkans. Because of its huge number of mountains and water reserves, if Bulgarians decides, they can turn the southern Balkans into a desert for only six months time, or flood the lands south of Bulgaria by raising the locks of our dams, the largest in Eastern Europe. PS: Actually, we have never seen the Greeks as our enemies, not only because of the common religion, similar mentality, values and a common future in the European Union. But we always have one thing in mind, because of their friendship with our biggest enemy in the Balkans! Stay safe!🍀

[@SpartanLeonidas1821]

@@bobantheighty6141 Well, to be honest...Greece was not as Militarily strong enough to stop it, so they played the "nice guy" with Yugoslavia. Thats the Real Historical Context for that. Now its too late. If it was now, Greeks would say something as our Military is the strongest in the Balkans by far.

[@SpartanLeonidas1821]

@@vacancyinterest4557 FACTS 💯 Thats the Historical Reality

[@stefanprokopiev8483]

Dear professor, a point I believe you forgot to mention is the treaty of San Stefano. Bulgaria received land which was a good example of its ethnic borders. Only several months later Bismarck and co decided that a more split up Balkan region would be of benefit for Germany and peace in Europe which was ironic as Bulgaria would repeatedly enter wars (Balkan and World) to reclaim the territories which united its history and culture, present from long before the ottomans.

[@huskytail]

It's not just Bismark and co. The other Balkan states, Serbia and Greece wanted compensations for the size of Bulgaria and pressured the great powers to limit that size or wars would have started. This is how Serbia justified the occupation of Nis and Pirot. In addition, Russia never intended to follow the San Stefano treaty, which was a known temporary signature to placate the budding Bulgarian state and to ensure its support for the installation of a Russian or acceptable by Russia monarch and thus giving unrestricted access to the warm seas. There's much more but it's not the easiest thing to talk about in details in a KZbin comment but some things are important to add for a fuller picture

[@zarni000]

@@huskytail still it was mostly Bismarck to blame. He essentially prepared the groundwork for ww1

[@TheNorth747]

You are tatar from asia , you have nothing in common with Macedonians or slavic people

[@Georgi.Delchev.Reborn]

@@TheNorth747 OK Mr. Uskub Turk.

[@thehobby-smith]

What do you mean by "Russia never intended to follow the San Stefano treaty?" Give me facts that support your opinion. That is the biggest BS that I have ever heard...Did you know that the Russians gave "15,567-30,000 killed 81,166 died of disease 56,652 wounded" (from Wiki) in this war? @@huskytail​

[@Pikaling3408]

Moldova and Romania also have the same problem in regards to Moldova’s national identity but Moldovans are slowly starting to accept that they are ethnically Romanians

[@JamesKerLindsay]

Interesting. That is a really interesting case. I’ve been meaning to do a video on Moldova and Romania for ages. (And on Transnistria.)

[@bobantheighty6141]

Absolutely correct, by the way. Moldova is another project of the Comintern, but very similar to the one with the Socialist Federal Republic of Macedonia! The Russians, in order to rule the peoples of Eastern Europe, have made such a big mess that it will be years before the clutter to be fixed forever. PS: Never again communism, never more suffering!

[@danielvasev5314]

@@JamesKerLindsay In Bulgaria, in the Blagoevgrad region, there is a tiny group of dishonest scammers paid by politicians from Skopje to present themselves to Europe and the world as an "ethnic Macedonian minority." They do something extremely vile: every year they "try" to register their association, putting intentionally in its statutes causes and goals that sound as if they were taken from a textbook about hostile propaganda - for example, secession from Bulgaria, introduction of "Macedonian language" as an official one for the territory of the district, erasure of the presence of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church in the district and its subordination under the jurisdiction of the canonically unrecognized Macedonian church, de-Bulgarianization of the region, and other similar madness. Of course, no one in the Blagoevgrad region and in Bulgaria, in general, believes in or follows such propaganda nonsense and the local court regularly refuses to register their association, because the ''goals'' implemented in their statute are clearly in violation of the National Constitution, according to which Bulgaria is a unitary state and the existence of autonomous, separatist or other similar entities on its territory is not allowed in any way. After this, these people appeal the court's decision in Strasbourg. And since the Strasbourg Court considers the case in a more general legal framework relating to the fundamental right of association and civil liberties, it ignores the texts from the National Constitution and the Bulgarian court's position. It issues a recommendation for registering their association and even forces our court to pay compensations to the ''victims''! The court pays the compensations but, of course, refuses to trample on the Constitution and does not register their association. This absurd judicial farce has been repeated in this way for a decade, if not more. These people have simply found, so to speak, a loophole in the law, and are openly making fun of us! That is why Bulgaria is particularly keen on Northern Macedonia giving up unfounded minority claims against us. Firstly, because they are meaningless, as these people cannot be recognized as a national or ethnic minority anyway, as according to the Constitution there are no minorities or collective rights of minorities - there are separate ethnic groups and individual human rights. Secondly, because such minority claims, as you can see, function just as a platform for more brazen, even territorial claims against Bulgaria. And thirdly, because there are simply no repressed Macedonians in Bulgaria, and these people are just paid fraudsters! The fact that there's a similar problem with a Macedonianist structure in Greece makes me think that the idea of all this is to support the concept of the so-called "divided ethnic Macedonia" among the population of Northern Macedonia, thus reinforcing and encouraging the hatred against Bulgaria and Greece. People in North Macedonia nurtured by such permanent propaganda are deeply convinced that Bulgaria is obliged to tear off a piece of its territory and give it to them! Do you really think that such madness has a place in the EU ?! You can be sure that if they come in the EU with such claims, they will try not only to maintain hostility between the population on both sides of the border but also to promote unprecedented, permanent propaganda against Bulgaria in the EU institutions! Of course, no one in Bulgaria will believe them, but that will not stop them from trying to ruin the country's image in the EU. These people literally make a living from it, they get paid for doing it. Now, give me at least one logical reason for Bulgaria to allow North Macedonia to join the EU without the latter giving up from all such unfounded claims!

[@ГеоргиДимитриев]

We N.macedonians slowely but surely accept the fact that we are bulgarians .. dont worry

[@ShubhamMishrabro]

@@ГеоргиДимитриев huh you are accepting it how? 🤔 I have seen only 2 Macedonian here accepting it

[@meme3395]

So, what's Bulgaria supposed to do? Just look at how irrationally some Macedonian officials behave when it comes to Bulgaria. So, Bulgaria should just accept this and move on? That's real tolerance, isn't it? Would you sacrifice what you know it's true to appease your relationship with your neighbour on the basis of a lie? Looking from the outside in, it's always easier to make a judgement that seems to 'solve' the issue, but really it doesn't.

[@begemod1743]

@Ron Balo macedonian propaganda is the best😁

[@meme3395]

@Ron Balo Thanks for proving my point.

[@bobantheighty6141]

When a person does not want to see the facts as they are, then he begins to say that he does not understand the problem! Such is the case with this professor, for him elephants are pink because they have the right to self-determination! PS: God created them Bulgarians, Tito made them Macedonians! Only the truth makes us FREE! 🗽☦️🦁🇧🇬

[@tatjanavelkova5814]

@ronbalo2261 I WISH YOU NICE YEAR ! ! ! Tatjana

[@janeza382]

Bulgaria need to be honest whit itself not spread nationalistic propaganda of Romanticized Exarchate as Vulgar visa vi Greek Patriarchate Pec in Kosovo or Albanian flag as Christian symbol. Macedonians are first Europeans who prayed to Chrisian God evrithing else is Romanticized narrative and nationalistic claim.

[@thedorios]

What the hell?!! Nowdays' macedonians' great grandfathers and great grandmothers were forced to change their nationality! And yes, they weren't happy about that! And by the way, Bulgaria existed way before 1878.

[@algsahin1958]

the great grandfathers and great grandmothers in vardar's Macedonia never felt like bulgarians their language differs a lot of bulgarian in fact is even more simular to serbian than to bulgarian and non the less why my great grandfathers here in macedonia were killed by bulgarians in ww2 why ?! and why bulgarian soliders slaughtered children in Macedonia if there were same nationality ???

[@zorikrisi]

@@algsahin1958 salughtering macedonian children from bulgarian in WW2 never happened, macedonia welcomed bulgaria after the invasion of yugoslavia in 1940-1941, there was even a grand parade in skopje celebrating bulgaria. I'm starting to see how "nationalist" macedonians are spreading hate for bulgaria and making bulgaria look like a very terrible country that tried to destroy macedonia. Funny thing is your grandftaher and grandmothers are most likely to be bulgarian, serbian or albanian lol perhaps even turkish.

[@algsahin1958]

@@zorikrisi Realy ??? never happened to see for yourself: english.republika.mk/news/macedonia/citizens-of-vatasa-the-site-of-a-horrific-1943-massacre-angry-at-zaevs-surrender-to-bulgaria/ here is from Wikipedia: mk.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%9C%D0%B0%D1%81%D0%B0%D0%BA%D1%80_%D0%B2%D0%BE_%D0%92%D0%B0%D1%82%D0%B0%D1%88%D0%B0 and it is not the only one. In most of the villages, the Bulgarian army killed people and took agricultural products. So your brainwashed nationalistic minds don't tell you the truth. You have big evidence that people in Vardar Macedonia wanted their autonomy and they differ much with Bulgarians than with Serbian people. But your brainwashed nationalistic minds all they want to see is the country that they were born to look bigger on the map and it doesn't matter that the people in that region are with no same identity and culture.

[@zorikrisi]

@@algsahin1958 the wiki site yu send me is macedonian which is obviously lie, the other site interviewed a nationalist macedonian who goes on about saying Bulgarians were fascists bla bla bla, when bulgarians were never fascists they were monarchists that were forces to assist hitler in his occupation of greece, everything you send me is a lie and can be properly debated. Macedonian wikipedia can be made by people and there is obviously lies. The image in the wikipedia site. plus when i tried to look up that site an error occured with the page not existing lol. Your argument was debunked and if you cant understand me, in short all you said was a lie.

[@bobantheighty6141]

The Bulgarian Army liberates Vardar Macedonia during WW2 (1941-1943) Link: kzbin.info/www/bejne/hJybZZ9nZat2d7M A great video, full of unforgettable moments of unification from that period of happiness for all Bulgarians! Sadly, it was in the shadows of the fascist period so, people cannot see what great moment was this really for the people from the two sides of the boarder! Reminder: The youngest state in Europe, but after Kosovo named North Macedonia was simply part of Bulgaria with its original name Vardar Macedonia, "gifted" to Serbia in 1913. Serbian colonization in Macedonia was a purposeful policy of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, from 1929, to change the ethnic composition of the population in the occupied in 1913 Vardar Macedonia by reducing the relative weight of the Bulgarian element. This settlement, Edmond Boucher de Bell wrote in 1922, "combined with the expulsion of the incorrigible Bulgarian elements, was to lead to the rapid Serbization of the area." We can safely say: North Macedonia, Republic of Macedonia, Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Socialist Federal Republic of Macedonia or People's Republic of Macedonia means only one: 540 years of Turkish Slavery, then 30 years of Serbian and 50 years of Yugoslav Slavery. The original is only one and is called Bulgaria! PS: Bulgaria, they died for you, mother, for justice and freedom! 🗽☦️🦁 🇧🇬

[@sashgaming6413]

Extremely poor video. He didn't do his homework. Maybe on purpose. Most of the important historical facts are missing. Their nation is build by manipulating historical facts and is mainly based on hate towards Bulgaria. We must also not forget that "macedonian" alphabet was created on a certain date - 5.05.1945. I don't know any other alphabet to have an official birthday ... I wonder how was their alphabet and language called the day before ...

[@azureblue5440]

That's not true, I finished my primary and secondary education in Macedonia and never was thought in school the way you say it. And about the alphabet, every language gets its alphabet once, the english, german, bulgarian or other alphabets don't exist since the start of time. Why don't other similar european cultures have these problems? Because they live in the present day and want mutual development. I don't get it why so much hate and not willing for progress, hmm maybe this is a excuse of the EU for not willing to expand, lets be honest here. This issue can't be a big factor in the negotiation process.

[@babatigosho6214]

@@azureblue5440 Because your schools teach you a propaganda claiming the language existed for thousands of years...ill link you a video in which they show both documents for the creation of "macedonian language" in 1944 and later the "macedonian alphabet" in 1945....and yes,other european countries don't have such a problems,because they don't do the things that your country does.When you stop spreading hatred and propaganda you can join the civilized world...kzbin.info/www/bejne/emfZo615gK2ejKc

[@azureblue5440]

@@babatigosho6214 Join the civilized world? Where do you think we live now? Of course you are going to list a bulgarian video that 'has to be true', lets be honest under the communist regime bulgaria had a lot of propaganda for its citizens as did all communist states (note that you do not recognize any other ethnicities in your country). All macedonian school books can be found online, you can read from them and see ''the propaganda'' you are referring to does not exist. We do not hate you and your country, but slowly you are making the people to start that. What are you afraid of, what factor of national security is MK joining the EU for you?

[@sashgaming6413]

@@azureblue5440 There is no hate ... Bulgarians are very tolerant people and we always tried to help you. I really don't blame you for being brainwashed in school. I totally understand you. The problem is the serbianisation of your country and the direction of your historians and politicians. It's not an insult to call you "brainwashed". It's not your fault. We are just trying to open your eyes but the hate is too big. Your country is based on stealing our history and mainly hate towards us. There is nothing negative written in our educational books towards Macedonia. What's written in your books about Bulgaria ... Why Bulgarians living in your country are afraid to say that they have Bulgarian roots. The answer is they'll be repressed if they do so. In the opposite case Macedonians are very welcome in Bulgaria and treated as friends. We gave over a 100000 Bulgarian passports to Macedonians with Bulgarian roots. Where is the hate ??? Who helped you solve your problems with Greece so you can get in NATO. Where is hate ??? We always tried to help you and we always consider you as brothers but you never saw it. It's really sad. We'll never betray our history and ancient language.....

[@tatjanavelkova5814]

@@babatigosho6214 yugoslav stamp ? ...... ) ) ) .... .

[@nick3175]

Macedonia was part of the first and second Bulgarian kingdoms. It was under Serbian control for relatively short period of time, less than two centuries. But even then, the majority of the population had Bulgarian ethnicity - spoke the Bulgarian language, as there were not such things as nations in the medieval ages. There are enough sources that prove, the majority of the population of Macedonia were still Bulgarians in XIX century. Serbians were second major ethnic group, specially in the northern part of Macedonia, where they were even majority in some areas, but in general they were minority as Greeks, Albanians, Turks and etc. In the WWI the Bulgarian army was greeted as liberator in most of the Macedonian towns and villages. In the WWII the Bulgarian army did a lot of atrocities in Macedonia and Serbia, but that was not ethnic based violence, as the Bulgarian army and police did the same, even worse in Bulgaria. There was not even idea for Macedonian nation up to the Balkan wars. Most Macedonians self-determined as Bulgarians up to 1950s. Initially the idea for Macedonian nation was born, after the losses of the Balkan wars, and specially of WWI. Many people in Macedonia realized the unification with Bulgaria is "causa perduta". Others felt betrayed as the authorities in Sofia did not make enough to fulfill the goal for unification, did not really support the pro-Bulgarian movements in Macedonia, and even used many Macedonian leaders in selfish ways, related to internal political agendas in Bulgaria. All this people came to the idea, that as they cannot, or even do not want anymore to unite with Bulgaria, they can create a new nation. That idea was manipulated and cunningly replaced by the Serbian communists after WWII. They created a new "Macedonian language" where most Bulgarian words were replaced with Serbian. And they literally built a new pro-Serbian Macedonian nation, almost from scratch. Initially that was supported by the Bulgarian communists. Most of the population of Pirin Macedonia was even forced to change their names to "Macedonian" (Serbian). The people who opposed were detained in concentration camps - entire families, and some were killed. So the idea was in the new big Balkan Union, led by Serbia, to exist big Macedonia. Then Stalin and Tito split, and the Bulgarians in southwest took back their birth names. But the Macedonian nation was made in Yugoslavia. Nowdays Bulgaria has not any territorial or national claims over modern Macedonia. What we want is Macedonia to accept the historical facts, and to give up any claims over the territory, the history and the language of Bulgaria. The issue is if North Macedonia claims Bulgarian history, that is actually a claim over the territory of Bulgaria. Do you want a war between members of the European Union? As what happened in Yugoslavia was also unbelievable. Completely normal people killed other completely normal people. Because if EU accepts North Macedonia with the ongoing historical - territorial claims, that is a valid possibility. Also it is nasty when your neighborhoods literally steal your past and culture. Recently in North Macedonia they published a book that claims some of the famous poems of the Bulgarian poet Hristo Botev are Macedonian folklore songs. Imagine if Irish claim plays of William Shakespeare are actually their folklore?

[@nokvardz]

And how do you explain in the Macedonians live in Greece, Albania and Bulgaria too, having their own organizations and parties and fighting for the Macedonian rights. I don't think they also were under Yugoslav "repression". Don't be stupid, no one can make up a nation in a nation in 50 years.

[@nick3175]

@@nokvardz There were not even attempts for such organizations up to 1942. All Macedonian organization were Bulgarian. After 1945 they were basically Serbian. In fact Macedonia, as real nation and even the Macedonian language are created in the last decades. As even with all artificial changes which placed by Belgrade authorities made, most Macedonians in the beginning of 90s spoke Bulgarian with many Serbian words implemented. Now there is a different Macedonian language. The Bulgarian issue with Macedonia is not the language, but the history and Serbian organizations like OMO Ilinden-Pirin for example. That one has few hundreds of members, most payed by Serbia. The issue is that both false history and false organizations have territorial claims over Bulgaria. Till that claims exist, Macedonia cannot be part of EU. And that issue is not caused only by Skopje, but also by Serbia, supported by Russia. Serbia and Russia do not want Macedonia in EU by different reasons. Bulgaria wants Macedonia in EU as that will erode the Serbian influence in Skopje. But Bulgaria simply cannot allow it, if there are territorial claims and violation of rights of the Bulgarians. Also for your information ethnic political parties are forbidden in Bulgaria. As there are not many Macedonians, most who have Bulgarian passports came from Macedonia in the last years to study or work after Bulgaria joined EU. But there is a large Turkish minority. As how fast you can create a nation - it is relatively fast, Ukrainian nation and language did not exist few decades ago for example. You need to reeducate young people, to fake some history, and some external pressure so people to nationalize. So two decades are enough. Ukrainian language is specially ridiculous, as Kiev was the capital of Russia up to XIV century. Now there are without any doubt independent Ukrainian nation and language. Macedonia is several decades older. But became a real nation after the collapse of Yugoslavia. Also read this: en-academic.com/dic.nsf/enwiki/9180278 And you can see how the Macedonian nation is born.

[@bobantheighty6141]

The biggest paradox of the Republic of North Macedonia is that the Orthodox population (still the majority) is Bulgarian and the state is anti-Bulgarian! For one to exist, the other must perish! 🇲🇰⚔️🇧🇬☦️🦁 There is no compromise here, because the struggle is life and death! On one side is anti-Bulgarian Macedonianism, an extremely dirty ideology conducted by the heirs of the communists of ASNOM/АСНОМ and Tito's Yugoslavia, together with their very nasty Serbian Chauvinism. And on the other side are the Macedonian Bulgarians, heirs to the great work of Bulgarian revolutionaries like Gotse Delchev, Dame Gruev and Yane Sandanski, all longing for a free and independent Macedonia from Turkish Slavery, united with the fatherland Bulgaria. God created them Bulgarians, Tito made them Macedonians! Link: kzbin.info/www/bejne/p3i9omaNedKnrKs Only the truth makes us FREE! 🗽☦️🦁🇧🇬

[@gigasigma8373]

@@nokvardz there are less than 3000 macedonians in albania & all of them are literlly right next to n.macedonia, only the ohrid lake is seperating them.

[@nick3175]

@@antemurale Ukraine is even more complicated as there were not such nation or country up to the Soviet revolution. There was not even common Ukrainian language. Indeed ancestors of Russians came from Ukraine. But then the majority of the population became different, as many steppe people from Asia passed trough that area - Cumans, Tatars, Kazakhs and etc. Many Bulgarians fled in Ukraine from Ottoman atrocities, Hungarians fled from Austrian atrocities, Jewish fled from Europe, there were a big German population. So up to the Soviet era there was a mix of different people, influenced by Poland on the west and by Russia on the east, and the majority of the population were not Russians. Ukraine is a new nation. That does not justify the Russian invasion.

[@sasho888prm]

James, so your argument is Bulgaria should just let it go because we're holding up the entire Western Balkans (Albania maybe?) And we're making other potential candidates nervous and scared of joining the EU. Are they governed by little kids? When some of the reasons for the Veto are mentioned, your best answer is "there are much bigger problems in the world than that". Nice reasoning James, just don't lose your day job mate.

[@bobantheighty6141]

The Macedonian identity and language are based only on the theft of Bulgarian history and personalities from the region of Macedonia such as Gotse Delchev and Tsar Samuel! The "Macedonian" nation and language were established by a decree of the Comintern in Communist Yugoslavia on August 2, 1944! Respectively, their national heroes are personalities after this period, namely: Toše Proeski, Mother Teresa and Esma Redjepova. Everything else is only pure lies and manipulations with the truth and history, as well as with the memory of the Bulgarians from the region of Macedonia! That is why Bulgaria's veto for starting negotiations for the accession of North Macedonia to the European Union is so deserved, categorical and understandable! Only the truth makes us FREE! ☦️🦁🇧🇬

[@debnadaebna9981]

James, has no arguments, he is ignorant and disrespectful. He didn't even do an actual research about the Macedonian Question that is famous as such since the last century. Arrogant and disrespectful.

[@shutup7957]

@@bobantheighty6141 LMFAOOOO THE LIESSS

[@bobantheighty6141]

@@shutup7957 , A Brainwashed has been detected. We will keep saying the truth, Brainwashed!

[@bobantheighty6141]

The so called "Macedonian" language is actually a very ugly Bulgarian rural dialect, uglier than Vratsany and Shopski dialects. Only the truth makes us FREE! 🗽☦️🦁🇧🇬

[@miralioleva2350]

Prof. , thank you for your review, however your story does not start at the beginning. You have missed an important part that Macedonia was part of Bulgaria before even the Ottoman empire during the Second the Bulgarian State in the 12-14 century. And a very important fact that it was the Berlin agreement that split Macedonia which was supposed to be freed by the Ada Stefan I agreement between Russia and Istanbul on March 3 1878. The fact is that all Macedonians during the Ottoman Empire held Bulgarian self-consciousness. The truth matters, even if the greatest Austrian-Hungarian and British empires did not like and did not allow a strong nation to be formed after the defeat of the Ottoman Empire by Russia.

[@77belts]

@@harthandsoul because bulgarians when u go back to medieval times were a mix of a turkic tribe called the bulgars, and the slavs of eastern europe. Bulgarian history goes waay back

[@estasquecrujes]

@@harthandsoul Firstly, I doubt there is a single Bulgarian named Attila. The other 3 are neither traditional nor particularly common - they are recent adoptions based on people naming their kids after historical figures they liked. Kind of like HUNGARIANS calling their kids Attila (not a traditional hungarian name) or even many Bosnians calling their kids Elvis. Our traditional names are the ones that are still the most common - Ivan, Petar, Dimitar, Georgi, Hristo, Todor, Maria, etc. We also retain our traditional name suffixes -ov, -ev, -ova and -eva. If you google Georgi Delchev you will find there are at least 100 of those in Bulgaria, Georgi Petrov - you will find probably 5000 of those. You will find plenty of Todor Alexandrovs, a few Damyan Gruevs too. Doubt you will find a single Delchev, Petrov or Gruev in modern North Macedonia, although you can find "Delcevski", "Gruevski" and even "Petreski". I hope that cleared it up for you.

[@Ne0LiT]

@@harthandsoul Is this a serious question? Have you studied history? Oh wait, yours is probably different than the entire worlds. So let me brief you. The Bulgar tribe after being chased away from Asia, came upon the Danube full we knowing what was on the other side, however they had no choice but to flee as they were being pursued, they crossed the river and were then met by a Eastern Roman army that was about and by accounts should have annihilated them, however due to unknown historical reasons the Emperor had left the battlefield, the most plausible reasons are that the bulgarians had a detachment that was harassing their supply lines, so the Emperor left to deal with that, there was something going on in the Imperial capital of Constantinople that forced him to march back or that he had some health related issue. Either way that caused the Roman army to back down. The Bulgars then claimed victory and remained South of the Danube, where they met with the local 13 slavic tribes with whom they forged alliance and together formed the realm of Bulgaria. However the slavic tribes were overwhelmingly outnumbering the Bulgars, who by accounts numbered no more than 10-15 thousand people. However the Bulgars were the ones who became the nobility and with time they sort of got assimilated by the overwhelmingly more slavs. However the legacy remained. This is what both YOU and I are. To some extent even what the Serbians are as they also got very much caught up in the entire thing, to the point that their Tsars in the 14th century were either half Bulgarian or even more than that, with their goal being to unite both realms under one banner and then eventually uniting the dying Eastern Roman Empire with themselves. However that never came to be as the Ottomans swept the entire peninsula. Then in the 19th century the freedom movements finally succeeded in drawing attention from the superpowers and getting us freedom. TILL THIS POINT, NOBODY, OUTSIDE OF NATIVE GREEKS claimed to be of " Macedonian " descent. And what are you? A greek? No, you're just a slav as am I, as are the Serbians. The thing is we're so mixed here on the balkans that if for a moment we forget our identity, like just imagine a world where we just forget what history has taught us and we all meet in the same place, we wouldn't be able to tell each other apart. Nobody here is " pure " blooded macedonian, bulgarian, turk, greek, vlach/romanian or serbian, we're all a mixed bag. However with you and me, it is a lot more closer than that, we share the same history, the same tsars, the same national heroes. It is not us that are trying to MAKE you into something you are NOT. It is you guys that are being told that you are something, which you are not. How many more people need to tell you that? Literally the entire world is screaming it in your face. Every book that is outside of your country says " Bulgaria ", while only yours says " Macedonia ", doesn't that make you wonder why? Does it not look in ANY WAY suspicious to you? The reason why your " Macedonian " identity was formed in the first place is because Yugoslavia was supposed to include Bulgaria in it. However Bulgaria refused to be included and since the MACEDONIA REGION, was predominantly populated by Bulgarians they were forced to somehow prevent you from succeeding from Yugoslavia. So they decided brainwashing and violence was the only way to suppress that. And there you have it. The entire history of why we have turkic names and why you don't. :) Hope you will do your research which goes OUTSIDE the borders of Macedonia to find out the truth, because living in lies is probably not pleasant.

[@ivopenev52]

@@Ne0LiT have you listened the other side of the history teached in Bulgaria? the things you say at the beginning are some kind of not exactly true. The problem with Macedonia is the kind of altering history just like mentioned at the beginning. I respect Macedonia and Macedonian people (I'm 1/6 or 1/4 Macedonian from my mother's side. And I'm proud with that) but the history logs from before the otoman slavery is not that you probably been teached. Are you aware how many kingdoms called Bulgaria have been before the Bulgaria of khan Asparuh (681 the territory where we are now) ... Its around 10 .. Volga Bulgaria... Old great Bulgaria...and so .. so be objective please. kzbin.info/www/bejne/gGHLoKCkpZuthpI That's movie based on facts and historical documentation. Have peace all ;)

[@voskreglavincevska3651]

@@Ne0LiT Not because I like Bulgars , but because I will try to have your "reasonable" tone of writings because we are obliged to do v.v. ! And I think it will be honest and equally ! You have your own books of history because you were the unifier of Slav World but failed with your orientation pro fashism after all ! And even before fashism you were Fashist too because your unification was in one aim to hide Macedonian Slav contribution about Slav enlightening all the time hiding that Bulgars came in Macedonia not v.v. ! Very long before you liked to recourse it ! You like to rehabilitate yourselves by humaliatig us , Slav speaking Macedonias ! You like to be our boss because we found an other way of unification in Yugoslavia ! And than , sudenly you started to do history records stating not that "it was" or " they were " but you do call everybody and everithing like we are still Bulgarian ! Not Slav Macedonians with Bulgaria in the past as unifier ! Do you see how fair I am ! You are even not noticing what you are talking about ! We were one !? Ha ha ha ha We were and allways will be one with Old Slav canonical books in our churches ! You have put everywere flatering only to yourselves that all Slav speaking Macedonians are Bulgar still today ! But we "were" "W E R E" if now we have state of our own ! And all nations from Kamçatka to Apenini do not have Bulgarian Alphabet but the common Old Slav one ! We dont have dokumentation of course ! Only liturgical psaltirs in our churches preserved with honour which are the same as yours and as in Russia Serbia and so on , and on ! Your words stated here are disgusting! All "polite" words but to pushy , looking like the War will start and you will atack us ! Doesn't mean that World do not know that Macedonias were ramparted with many agreements and not only you were the admirer of Macedonian land (and I will repeat unifier ) thinking that bolgars are the ones that must overtake Province Macedoniae ! We are inocent without documentation because Slav speaking Macedonians were 2000 years in Colonial time and succided after all by fortune ! Didn't have a state but we managed by statistical records in WW2 to catch the position for uprising . Thanks to Hitler , we are now state by fortune ! We had the Macedonian Uprising aproved and a new start from 1945 . We were ramparted both as Bulgaria and Macedonia by Hitler ! It must have been something special that we started not to like you any more because we liked to be unalianced ! Not Westerners neader Soviet ones we were ! You were with SSSR ! Far far away ramparted we came in new position to hate you because we were economicaly in beter position and you were real Guptians ! And still you are stupid jealous and low level Guptians . It is disgusting to have any relations with you and if I were in charge I would rather put a Chinese Wall to keep us aside ! And what is the most , you are not at all humans in today's level of developement !! You do not remember that we had referendum to do apparting with Yugoslavia but with one condition to be reunited again only with Yugoslavians if posible ! Because you are animals traped in EU to ruine everithing BY BULGAR TRADITION !

[@BettiVB]

EU can be as angry as they wish.They weren’t angry with Greece for the name change, were they? Better read some history and see how bulgarians are treated in North Macedonia before being angry and making inadequate statements.

[@Kafei01]

You really should look forward and not behind.

[@DreamerRusty]

@@Kafei01 You're definitely from a western part of Europe, national identity is still very important in the eastern parts, as it should be.

[@-Faze-]

I really wish to believe that EU will educate themselves about the situation, but if I have to be honest at least 75% of the EU members don’t even know where Bulgaria stand on the map. Not to mention Bulgaria followed EU rules about new members. In terms of North Macedonia to join EU, she must made peace with it’s neighbors in the EU. In her case to accept the history and learn from it. And most importantly of all to stop insulting Bulgaria, to stop threatening our people bad and to stop burning our flags, because if Bulgaria wasn’t in the EU so as Macedonia, it would mean war. Which would end to bad for Macedonia….

[@ГеоргиДимитров-и6щ]

@@Kafei01 Its easy to say when you are watching this from the side and dont really care

[@donttalkaboutmymomsyo]

Last time i checked it was Bulgaria who landed in front of the european court for human rights and were shown to be systematically opressing ethnic Macedonians i the Pirin region.Simply shameful

[@MorbidMayem]

I stopped watching after you failed to mention everything prior the Treaty of Berlin. This is not serious.

[@kolotoubas5689]

Yea it's clearly a propaganda video

[@geoeconomics5629]

@@kolotoubas5689 This guy guy on video works for Colonizers view of the colonized nation

[@viktorg9633]

In a few comments you are saying that Bulgaria is handling the matter poor. What is your proposal for solution?

[@ГеоргиДимитров-и6щ]

The gatekeeping is a means to an end. It may be not the best but it forces the situation to resolve in some way.

[@newreast3904]

to handle it rich, i suppose....

[@wankawanka3053]

He probably believes that bulgaria should let it go 😑😑😑

[@Voyager759]

I think these two Macedonian sayings properly address your concern: "Ако ја сакаш пушти ја да си оди. Ако не ти се врати значи никогаш не ни била твоја" and "Со сила убавина не бидува".

[@polucovekpolukomarac]

There is a theory that the Bulgarian government started this campaign of blocking Macedonia entering the EU in a period of mass anti corruption demonstrations in Sofia. And the reason was to draw the public’s attention from the internal problems. I mean yeah, there were tensions before that but it was never a question of not allowing Macedonia to enter the EU. So what I believe Bulgaria and Macedonia should do is: 1) Get familiar with each other cultures. Make movies and songs and stuff together- the politicians could help with that by promoting various concerts and festivals . I am Macedonian and I didn’t know the song Ахат-Черната овца until couple of years ago. That is embarrassing! And there are a lot of things from the Bulgarian pop culture now days that I don’t know about. And i know a lot more about the Serbian pop culture. That is just bad. 2) start a campaign of promotion of the truism between the countries. The people should visit the places more often and get to know each other better. 3) stop vetoing Macedonia. That is just counterproductive and it doesn’t resolve the historical issues- and if the Macedonian government agrees to sign what the Bulgarian government requires that will make the tensions among the people even higher. 4) work on the corruption issues inside the country- this goes for both Bulgaria and Macedonia. Both of the countries are suffocating in corruption. 5) lastly. Let historians handle the history issues. I am sure if there is a collaboration between the Bulgarian and Macedonian universities in the field of history and if they analyse the same and opposing history evidences they will come to a consensus eventually. Of course both sides have beed feed up with a good share of opposing propaganda respectfully, and i am sure that both sides will give up some portion of the believes they hold for a historical fact at the moment which wont come easy … so the people in both countries should be ready for that that. But if the people in both countries have a better relationship that will come much easier.

[@НиколайМишев-х1ю]

Bulgaria has made a lot of compromises. It is turn of Macedonia. And our so called 'allies' in Europe should understand our point of view. I respect our neibours but let avoid distoring of history. There are documents and objectative facts that we have common history. This is the present debate between Macedonia and Bulgaria

[@nightstalker5097]

And what is the point of common history ? You will grow a hair if you are balt, many nations have common history but behind that is Bulgarians whant to make Macedonians Bulgarians which is not possible so it stupid, like Austro-Hungarians or many other who have common but now Austria to say hey Hungarians you are Austrians lololol we have common history

[@nightstalker5097]

Lot of compromises you did 0 compromises, and is nobody fault you fought with Hitler and slaughtered Jewish Macedonians and burned Macedonian villages, Bulgaria should appologize not compromise

[@Ivan_p]

One sided, poorly researched and obviously questionable video.. Not a word, that since 7th century, for almost 700 years, Macedonia was part of Bulgaria and even our capital was there.. Not a word that all VMRO leaders stated multiple times that they are bulgarians, not a word that there were no actual macedonians before 1945.. If we have to cut our "friends" in order to defend our history and culture, then they are not our friends at all.. Do better research next time...

[@JamesKerLindsay]

You missed the point. This isn’t a history video. I don’t really care whether Macedonians are Bulgarians or not. This is fir you to decide. The video is about how Bulgaria is using its EU membership to force through its position, much to the annoyance of its EU partners. This is a channel about international relations not history, as such. Besides, in my experience history is abused in almost every conflict I have looked at. That’s why I avoid it. Because it always comes dine to “why didn’t you talk about this, you’re biased” or “you’re biased, why didn’t you talks about that”.

[@Ivan_p]

@@JamesKerLindsay it is curious how you can be partually correct and entirely wrong at the same time..The way you presented the video implies that Bulgaria's political position is incorrect (which I believe is the actual purpose of this video), but based on the actual facts (historical facts, in things called books, which are things usually used for research before such videos) you may find very easy and quickly, what is in the roots of our position.. I do not want history videos, yet you created one, pointing the period of the Ottoman empire, conveniently missingly 7-8 centuries of bulgarian history before that.. For us, this position is fair and just, no matter what you say, and your video is just propaganda or simply job poorly done..

[@debnadaebna9981]

@@JamesKerLindsay Indeed very poorly researched and ignorant about the topic. Very offensive actually and idiotic statements.:)

[@d3loff]

@@JamesKerLindsay "The video is about how Bulgaria is using its EU membership to force through its position, much to the annoyance of its EU partners." - well, this is called politics if you by accident didn't know.

[@vanya_dimova]

@@JamesKerLindsay Where do you see "annoyance"? Nobody cares but a few post-Communist counties and some anti-EU media. EU has a lot of issues right now- Covid, economic issues, immigrants, Russia, China, Turkey and the last thing EU needs is another problem. Why do certain countries have the right to a veto but we do not? We are an EU member and if something does not suit our interests, we will use it. The way Netherlands use it to block us joining Schengen. And maybe you don't understand what EU means but in a family all members support each other and do not gang upon a member. Because tomorrow your country, or another country might need our support to pass a law, for example. How should we react? Give our support or act like some members are acting right now.

[@andrewb8698]

Even if we where once one people now Macedonians have a separate national identity whether Bulgaria likes it or not. Did Bulgaria not agree to the U.N charter on self determination? On the flip side us Macedonians need to come to terms with our History and stop revising it, we should be proud to have been an integral part of Bulgaria and should be proud of our journey to who we are today.

[@JamesKerLindsay]

Thanks. Great comment. I completely agree with both points.

[@gva3657]

Bulgaria does not challenge the right of self-determination of the Republic of North Macedonia (RNM) and its citizens, who are totally free in their own right to maintain and develop their own national identity. The problem kicks in when this national identity is based on negating the Bulgarian identity, culture and legacy in the broader region of Macedonia. This is the root of the conflict, otherwise we would have quite descent relations, if not even some sort of a 'special relation' and a strategic partnership, akin to the relations between USA and UK, or Germany and Austria, or Czechia and Slovakia, Greece and Cyprus, Turkey and Azerbaijan, etc. In fact, if Macedonia was a free and non-communist state after WWII, we probably wouldn't have these problems now.

[@bigorstojanov184]

We Bulgarians need to come to terms with our fascist past and apologize to our friends the Macedonians who are a totally separate nation with their own culture, history and language. We should learn to respect our brothers and be proud of their history. Bulgaria is Macedonian in one way.

[@gva3657]

​@@bigorstojanov184 What is that? Bulgaria doesn't challenge the right of self-determination of the Republic of North Macedonia. Bulgaria objects to the historical fabrications and appropriation of the Bulgarian heritage, culture and legacy in the broader region of Macedonia.

[@anthonyknight3082]

@@JamesKerLindsay You are saying great comment to a person who most probably works for the Bulgarian and Greek chovinistic propaganda ? seriously Comments like that from people who pretend to be Macedonian only cause damage to the issue

[@robertabella1806]

There is something you didn't mention though. This supposed Macedonian identity is based on being related to ancient Macedonians ie Alexander the Great which is nonsense. If they even deny being south slavs how can you take them seriously?

[@petergriffinmk2884]

Slavs linguistically, but not genetically. Our DNA is closer to Turks than to Poles lol. This means genetically we are from the Balkans, even if we adopted a Slavic language in the past, we can still trace our roots to these lands and the people that lived here.

[@ted1452]

@@petergriffinmk2884 good luck with that thought.

[@JamesKerLindsay]

Thanks Robert. I did consider going that particular rabbit hole, but I really didn't want to get into it. I just pointed to increasingly divergent views on their respective ethnolinguistic origins and left it at that. In fact, there has been some really weird stuff going on in that direction. Google "Macedonoids"!

[@rawka_7929]

@@petergriffinmk2884 I'm pretty sure Slavs are just that a linguistic group and of course you're closer to Turks there was 500 years of ottoman rule and also for most of its existance the kingdom of Macedon was mostly in modern day Greece with a tiny part being in Northern Macedonia so yeah

[@nikolavideomaker]

@@JamesKerLindsay That statement was only held by a nationalistic government, otherwise it not held by the majority of the people and the current government.

[@whiskeybluez]

Macedonia (Macedonians) has been continuously assimilated by Greeks and Bulgars from late 19th century to this very day in one form or another

[@yoankrasimirov93]

We Bulgarians accept that the Macedonian nation and the Macedonian language exist, but only after 1944. Their history begins in 1944, and if now they manage to reach the Moon it will be their success, but the Macedonian language and nation was put into practiced artificially and with a lot of force, violence and propaganda in 1944 by the COMINTERN (communists of Bulgaria, Yugoslavia and the Soviet Union) for geopolitical reasons in the Balkans, and for this new nation to be created, hundreds of thousands of Bulgarians from the Macedonian region had to die and be locked up. Their language was forcibly modified so that it was as far away as possible from Bulgarian language, the communists inserted many Serbian, Yugoslav, Latin and English new words. The revolutionaries of the 19th century Bulgarian revival, the VMRO organization, King Samuel of medieval Bulgaria are all BULGARIANS and only Bulgarians, look at the Bitola stone. The Slavic population in the Macedonia region, until 1944, considered themselves only as Bulgarian and spoke in Bulgarian. And now the Macedonians come and tell us that the Macedonian language and culture existed in parallel with the Bulgarian language and culture throughout the centuries, simply a bad joke.... It is like arguing whether the Earth is flat or round. That is a guy from North Macedonia who know the truth kzbin.info/www/bejne/npaodKuMm5yhrqs

[@deljo12]

So, let’s sum up your statement. You believe that the whole Slavic Population of Macedonia was Bulgarian and spoke Bulgarian, and then suddenly in 1944, Tito and the communist came and said ‘From now on you will be Macedonians”. Then, all of a sudden, all these people changed their language. People living in Macedonian villages, just inserted overnight Serbian words in their dictionary and started to communicate in invented language. Hundreds of thousands had to die or were locked up (as you claim) as opposition to the communist authorities, but all the rest relatively easy accepted this transition in nationality and language just like that. ??? As a Macedonian, I am aware about the communist Anti-Bulgarian propaganda and the selection of historical data to be presented in Macedonian curricula. However, I have never understood how average Bulgarian so easily accepted this thesis, that Macedonians were made artificially just by signature of Tito/Stalin/Comintern. I found it very illogical.

[@yoankrasimirov93]

@@deljo12 But have you seen documents from the Bulgarian Communist Party or the Yugoslav Communists? Have you seen that treaties had been signed between the two countries, for example the Bled Treaty in Slovenia, to create false propaganda in the Bulgarians of the Pirin Macedonia region to artificially turn them into Macedonians? In the Yugoslav (Serbian) archives there are tens of thousands of files of police records of Bulgarians from Macedonia who are tortured, killed in the Macedonian region, I am not making this up because I feel like it, there are documents that prove it. Serbia and North Macedonia refuse to open these files from Yugoslavia's old secret records because they know that the "Pandora box" would be opened. The Bitola stone from more than 1000 years ago, clearly says of which empire and of which people King Samuel of Bulgaria was king more than 1000 years ago in the Macedonian region. In the archives / censuses of the Ottoman Empire, in Macedonia there are many Bulgarians, and some Turks, Gypsies, Greeks ... but curiously there are no Macedonians. Do you know that after the creation of the Macedonian nation and language, many Bulgarians were offered to change their surnames to -ski? For example from "Petrov", to "Petrovski" or "Petroski". Yet another way to completely remove them from their royal homeland Bulgaria Why the Turks of Macedonia, the Greeks of Macedonia ... retained their nationality, and today they are Turks, Greeks, Gypsies, Romanians ... from Macedonia, only the Bulgarians of Macedonia (the vast majority of the Macedonian population ), today are they Macedonian ?? Here it is not that each one of his version of the facts of him as you clearly do, here we have documents, archives of the secret services and historical artifacts, end of discussion. Everything else is bigotry, relativization, propaganda and bla bla bla

[@deljo12]

@@yoankrasimirov93 For the purpose of an argument, let's say that everything that you say is 100% true. Do you really believe that the identity of whole group of people can be changed over night? Do you honestly believe that bunch of Bulgarians were brainwashed into some other nationality and changed their language in short time interval, just because some communist said so? I am not saying that there were no people who culturally were part of Macedonians, but identify themselves as Bulgarians, there were many cases like this. But believing in the fact that majority of Macedonians changed their heart and minds just because Tito and the Comintern wanted so, for me is very illogical and does not have any basis.

[@yoankrasimirov93]

@@deljo12 You have your opinion and if you don't believe me it is your decision. It may sound weird and even surreal, but this is the true story and we have documents and sooner or later the truth of what happened to the hundreds of thousands of Macedonian Bulgarians who stayed in Yugoslavia after WWII will come out. light. I'm just going to tell you that Macedonianism has even older roots: the roots of this are Serbs from the 19th century. Macedonianism was invented, but NOT put into practice by a Serbian politician named Stojan Novakovic. He had the concept that as in the Macedonian region there were living many Bulgarians, and this population could not be indoctrinated and converted directly into Serbs in order to control the Macedonian territory, it was thought to convert the Macedonian Bulgarians first into something intermediate, neither Serbs nor Bulgarians (Macedonians), for then gradually converting them into Serbs. After the Balkan wars, Serbia took control of Vardar Macedonia (todays RNM/FYROM) , which was full of Bulgarians and with violence and terror tried to change their national identity from Bulgarians to Serbs, they forcibly changed their surnames, for example from Dimitrov to DimitrovIC, Ivanov to IvanovIC........ The relationship between the Bulgarian people of Macedonia and the process of invention, creation and implementation of the Serbian-Yugoslav Macedonianism is one of the most grim and perverse doctrines in the history of mankind, but all this will one day come to light, because we will not stop until all this is known, the genocide of the Macedonian Bulgarians at the hands of the Serbs / Yugoslavs and Communists,for then gradually turn them into "Macedonians" who have nothing to do with the Bulgarians and with Bulgaria. If you are really interested in the topic, look for sources in English such as Encyclopedia Britanica, there are CIA records from the 50s that relate everything very well ... there are a million records in all parts of the world of what really happened. So I repeat you, if you don't believe me, it's not my problem, it's yours.

[@yoankrasimirov93]

@@deljo12 www.cia.gov/readingroom/docs/CIA-RDP83-00415R004300550001-2.pdf

[@stefangeorgiev5497]

My great-grandparents were refugees from Macedonia(the region, not country) during the Ilinden uprising in 1903. They were Bulgarians and identified as such. So did most of the people living in this region - other ethnic groups were albanians, serbs and kosovaks. After WW2 Tito and Stalin made an agreement with Georgi Dimitrov to create a new nation in this region and after it was created Tito brutally suppressed any attempt by the bulgarians living in Macedonia to identify as such. Today, we are perfectly fine with Macedonians having their own identity, I don't even care that they use a bulgarian accent as a language. What I mind is claiming that most of our historical heroes and tzars are macedonian...

[@ralteofilova]

Same here, my great-great grandfather was a revolutionary from Struga, always identified as Bulgarian, the whole family escaped to Ruse when he got discovered but he was fighting for freedom and for Macedonians joining their brothers in Bulgaria. There is still a street named after him in Struga…the history of so many families is like this, so many examples and they still deny everything.

[@olgaborisova3052]

@@ralteofilova Sorry have to type in English just so it's clear to everyone. Already left him a personal comment- my great grand parents are from Seres area - neighbours to Goze's village. My great grandfather was komita from the Serskata cheta. Their house was the weapons and bomb depo for the famous attack of the bank in Thessaloniki, We however have memoirs with photos, facts /names witnesses- and statements they are Bulgarians which I have offered to share with the expert. I challenged him to say what he would do if this was his family history we were advising to brush off. Maybe we are all ignorant.

[@gencdilaveri4471]

You do realize that there isn’t an ethnic group called kosovars right.? You probably know they’re Albanian.?

[@bigorstojanov184]

My grandparents too, but they went to fight in the Ilinden in order to create a separate Macedonian nation state. I hope that one day more and more Bulgarian come to terms with their ancestral Macedonia past. Bulgarians are nothing more than Macedonians that forgot who they are. Very confused people.

[@Razboinikov80]

@@bigorstojanov184 Indeed, all your so called "prerodbeniks" were confused considering themselves Bulgarians.

[@kostaskavaliotis8974]

History: Greek Language: Bulgarian Hotel: Trivago FYROM in a few words

[@tatjanavelkova5814]

MACEDONIAN HISTORY . MACEDONIAN LANGUAGE ! ! ! !

[@para0102]

@@tatjanavelkova5814 Miky Maoys Walt Disney

[@tatjanavelkova5814]

@@para0102 you Miky Maoys. I TATJANA -- MACEDONIAN ! !

[@todorbashev6120]

James, Bulgarian history doesn't start with 1878 independence. Probably you need to go back somewhere 13 centuries to understand the history. What you said "is what England allowed to be".

[@JamesKerLindsay]

Of course it doesn’t. The same applies to every one of my videos. But you need a starting point that doesn’t overwhelm people. Given that Macedonians and Bulgarians contest their roots and anything I said would be judged by the other side as wrong I focused on the story of how they became two separate countries despite Bulgarian claims to Macedonia.

[@bobantheighty6141]

Matthew Nimetz/Матю Нимиц: Identity cannot be negotiated. We must say very clearly from Bulgaria to everyone: No one in Bulgaria prevents the political class in Skopje from defining themselves as they want - Macedonians, Martians, Indians or Avatars! But this does not mean that the same people should steal our history and language, as well as not recognize the Bulgarian roots of their people and their own ancestors! Reminder: Thefts and falsifications at the state level cannot have an excuse or an alibi! It's time for the lies to end and for the whole truth about the creation of the so-called "Macedonian nation and language" on the idea of Stojan Novaković/Стоян Новакович and the Comintern to come to light ASAP. Only in this way will we preserve the pure and unsullied honor and dignity of the thousands of Bulgarians who died for the freedom of the Macedonian region from Turkish slavery. ⚔️ FREEDOM OR DEATH ☦️ 🗽☦️🦁🇧🇬 ⚔️СВОБОДА ИЛИ СМЪРТЬ☦️

[@PP-hu9wv]

@@JamesKerLindsay gtfo with that woke sh1t "overwhelming" the people... Let's not hold on our position because someone's feelings are hurt... There is a whole worldwide historians community and all of the facts abt Bulgaria can be and were verified by external nom biased parties...

[@hayritahirov5566]

This is incompetent video that does not take into account the full history and it does not take into account the history before the ottoman empire. Bulgaria statehood has connection with the region of Macedonia for more than 10-12 centuries. It there is so much that people like this one does not take into account and provide partial information which is even worse than misinformation or spreading lies. Besides, in Bulgaria the Muslim population is not only from Turkish origin but also natives who in one way or the other have become Muslims, are Muslims but still of Bulgaria origin!!!

[@ЈанеСандански-л1и]

Tatars that arrived in Balkans in 7th century have more connection to Macedonia than Macedonians themselves noted 10 century b.c. that is 17 century before your horses drove you here? Are you clear with your head?

[@Smail345]

Пич, аз съм от Южна България и мога да ти кажа, че ние говорим на български и това ни е майчин език. Ние сме едни от най-старите заселници в България. Един приятел си направи ДНК тест и о чудо! Показа, че генотипа ни е супер чист. На хората им излизат други континенти, а на нас ни излезе България, Северна Гърция, Южна Румъния и Молдова като населявани земи. Сами си правете изводите колко чиста тракийска кръв! Нямаме нищо турско. Това е така, защото земите в юг са ни мъчили най-много и са искали да създадат едно самосъзнание подобно на македонското. Може би държавата ни щеше да се казва Родопи. Честно казано ми писна да ни делят. Ние не се наричаме "помаци", "павликяни", "ахряни". Тия медии подкупни си скъсаха гъза да лъжат. Елате в Смолян, Златоград, Неделино и вижте на какъв език говорим. Да, ние си имаме диалект и той се е запазил от старобългарски. Архаични думи използваме, които могат да се срещнат в стари български документи. На нас ни пука за България. В интерес на истината Македонския диалект до голяма степен е подобен с родопския. Това в така, защото и те ползват старобългарски. Един народ сме. Не слушайте какво се говори в медиите. Ходих до Македония и всичко им разбирах като говореха. В Охрид си са чисти българи. Само в Скопие имат други предпочитания, защото им наливат пари. Имало е геноцид срещу нас както в македонските земи, така и при нас. В Ксантийско, Гърция още говорят на родния си език, който е български. Първо потурчени, после погърчени са ни обрекли на бавна асимилация. Ако тръгнат да убиват твоето семейство за религия и националност, разбира се, че много хора ще се пречупят. Прочетете за генерал Черевин. Руски генерал е дошъл да ни освобождава, а не наши. В Македония явно никой не е и отишъл...

[@ЈанеСандански-л1и]

@@Smail345 Да бе ПИЧ и јас тоа го велам дека вие сте насјатариот Татарски род во Европа. Но вие исто така сте последните дојденци на Балканот, пристигнати во 7 век и вие сте последните кои имаат било какво право да кажуваат за другите Балкански народи

[@konstantinlozev2272]

The funniest part is when some people from today's North Macedonia claim that the kingdom of King Samuil had anything to do with today's North Macedonia. You get to wonder why the Byzantine emperor Basil II who defeated the kingdom of King Samuil was self-proclaimed as "the Bulgarian slayer" and not the "North Macedonian slayer" 🙄 А знаем ли къде е столицата на България при Самуил? 🧐

[@ЈанеСандански-л1и]

@@konstantinlozev2272 Basil nickname was Porfirogenitus. Byzantine themes are not kingdoms LIAR. Macesonian was byzantine theme of Bulgaria and theme Macedonia was south of Aegean part and Edrine. So stop lying amd manipulating. Basil got his nickname after killing Bulgars near Dobrudza region.

[@borisadamichin4537]

My friend , first read the history before 1878 and after that give advise to us. We know the history. I am from Pirin Macedonia and I am proud to be Bulgarian.

[@lexdelija213]

You are the minority in today's North Macedonia. North Macedonians are 90% of Serb origin.

[@tatjanavelkova5814]

@@lexdelija213 ti ......... 190 % GLUPAK .

[@tatjanavelkova5814]

@@lexdelija213 MACEDONIANS ARE MACEDONIANS. you 90 % srb freak.

[@janeza382]

OK Professor hahaha Patriarchate and Exarchate propaganda in Makedonia ... Pec is in Kosovo. Look at the Bible Macedonians first preyed to Christian God when under Roman imperialism. Even Christian symbol as eagle is used by Alexander whit Diplomacy of Germani(Ltatin name) before unification of civilised world known for that time... Empire of Macedonia emerged from kingdom of Makedonia 30 centuries ago. You think civilisation started one and half centuries ago?! Bulgarian exarchate is Romanticized creation... Vulgar as imperialistic puppet state under Roman crown.

[@tatjanavelkova5814]

MACEDONIANS 25 CENTURIES ARE MACEDONIANS ! ! ! ! !

[@geogeo639]

The Austrians have their own national identity. But there is no such thing as Austrian language. They speak German. Same applies to the Belgians, who speak either Dutch or French. The fact that the Slavs of North Macedonia insist on a separate language and a fabricated history implies that there is more about the topic that one might think...

[@JamesKerLindsay]

Yes, and until the 1990s, Serbs, Croats, Bosniaks and Montenegrins all spoke Serbo-Croat. But now they speak, Serbia, Croatian, Bosnian and Montenegrin. Languages that were regarded as one just a few decades ago. The context in the Balkans is rather different than elsewhere because of the nationalist dimension. And I have to say, reading through the comments of many Bulgarians here, it is unsurprising that many Macedonians would want to distance themselves from Bulgaria. It has been appalling.

[@blazerglazer2691]

@@JamesKerLindsay They should view themselves as bulgarians and not macedonians

[@efir2]

​@@JamesKerLindsay It's very interesting what you find appalling about this. To you it's not appalling that the Macedonists have been destroying the material history of another nation, that is to say thousands of Bulgarian monuments, graves and inscriptions in their attempts to erase our history and manufacture an ancient one of their own. it's not appalling that as a state policy they have been falsifying numerous Bulgarian (and Greek too) historic texts in order to incite hatred against their neighbours. It's appalling that the Bulgarians are saying mean things on the internet as a response to this. Your priorities are so backwards, it's shocking.

[@bobantheighty6141]

For more information regarding the Macedonian Question and the dispute of Bulgaria with North Macedonia, please read The White Book/Бялата Книга. In this book, Bulgarians from Serbia, North Macedonia, Bulgaria and Albania unite their efforts to explain properly and with very substantiated facts the whole truth about Slavic Macedonia and its Bulgarian character and roots. Please, always make difference between present-day Macedonia with a predominant Bulgarian/Slavic population and the Ancient Macedonia of Alexander the Great, populated with the Greek tribe named Makedon. The only thing the two Macedonians have in common is the Greek word Macedonia/Μακεδόνια. Reminder: Serbian politics after 1944 conducted by Tito instilled a new ethnic consciousness in Vardar Macedonia/Вардарска Македония. 30 years after its independence, this Belgrade policy for a new identity among Macedonian Bulgarians, built on an anti-Bulgarian basis and on the bones of tens of thousands of Bulgarians who died for the freedom of the fatherland from Turkish Slavery, still continues to exist in present-day North Macedonia. In fact, this is the same Vardar Macedonia, but turned into a communist state in the then Tito's Yugoslavia and with a very strong expression of Anti-Bulgarian handwriting and behavior. PS: God created them Bulgarians, Tito made them Macedonians! Only the truth makes us FREE! 🗽☦️🦁🇧🇬

[@wraithface4410]

@@bobantheighty6141But Bulgaria is pretty gay. Its understandable that they want to create some distance

[@MeowMeowKing]

Браќа бугари нормални луѓе домаќини да сте ми живи и здрави и да живее братството помеѓу Македонија и Бугарија 🇲🇰🇦🇱❤️🇧🇬🇧🇬

[@makedon888]

Така е брате, многу омраза за ништо, сите сме образ Божји и сме привремено на оваа напатена планета.. Поздрав до сите разумни луѓе, секое добро.

[@HeroManNick132]

Северна да сме по-точни.

[@MeowMeowKing]

@@HeroManNick132vidi severna juzna istocna zapadna dodeka se raspravame koj kako sto umirame kako narodi! Natalitetot ni opadja! Dodeka se karame medjusebe kje ne snema sigurno! Srdecen pozdrav

[@ivitsalazarov4824]

@@HeroManNick132 Da i go zacukam na kerkati vo Cmarot po-tocno

[@HeroManNick132]

@@MeowMeowKing Ако бе го написал на кирилица по-честен щеше да прозвучиш, ама карай! Поздрави!

[@deyanivanov3471]

Dear Professor, this story begins a lot before the fall of the Ottoman empire but surprise surprise the beginning is somehow missing in your research. Obviously, the outcome from the Battle of Doiran in 1918 still hurts, is not it? Honestly, I don't expect much deep digging in the history from a successor of colonizers, murderers, and slaveowners.

[@dinos9607]

Well, if Bulgarians had no ambitions of expanding into Greece, all that would had never happened.

[@mirohristov464]

@@dinos9607 Sure, sure... But can you say Greece didn't have ambitions to expand into Bulgaria?

[@dinos9607]

@@mirohristov464 You mean south Bulgaria, the region of Anatoliki Romylia where lived a sizeable Greek population? Well, theoretically yes but Greeks never enacted such ambitions, nor did they start wars for it. Instead Bulgrarians already since the doomed treaty of St. Stefano, organized pogroms against Greeks in order to push the Greek population out. But one thing is for sure, Greeks were not inclined to ask every single land where Greeks lived. Only their historically approven ancestral lands. The error of Bulgarians were to want to actively expand into lands which they never had any historical rights and there is no better example than their wish to occupy Aegean Macedonia including the city of Thessaloniki in which Bulgarians never lived in any period of history. How can you claim a city in which you never, never ever, lived? In doing so the Bulgarians not only they failed but they also lost ancestral Bulgarian lands in Skopje. Us Greeks we do acknowledge Bulgaria's rights in Skopje, we want to be fair and square in that, we do believe in a nation's right to be in its ancestral lands.

[@mirohristov464]

@@dinos9607 I am talkin about the so called 'Megali Idea' and here is the map en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Megali_Idea Sizeable Greek population in Anatoliki Romylia is a controversial point because as we know some significant part of the concerned population is Bulgarian who woke up one day and decided that from this day on they are Greeks, because as we know the Greeks had more rights in the Ottoman Empire than the others. There were Bulgarians in Thessaloniki and in Edrine but yes these cities had never been part of Bulgaria. As also Romylia had never been part of Ancient Greece. The big mistake of out country for me and belongs to the Bulgarian Tzar Ferdinand who ordered the Bulgarian Army to advance to Constantinople which of course had never been part of Bulgaria but his ego was enormous so... What I try to say is that here on the Balkans we are all the say and our issue will never be settled as long as we try to divide the lands based on nations.

[@dinos9607]

​@@mirohristov464 There were absolutely no Bulgarians living in Thessaloniki. This GREEK city (repeat it after me) in the GREEK region that is called Macedonia (and there are no other Macedonias up in Kosovo, Poland or the Artic Circle) had an ethnic Greek population which was slaughtered by the Turks and the city was repopulated strictly by muslims/Turks as well as Ladino Jewish from Spain. Surviving Greeks were confined in Pylaia and the surrounding villages. No Bulgarians around. Bulgarians were in fact non-existent at the time the Ottomans occupied North Greece *and we know no Slavs lived in Macedonia (the real one, the one and only) in the 15th century from the vast archives of Ottoman taxation records : Slavic names are totally absent, only Greek present_ The Bulgarian populations started to appear little by little in selective border regions of Macedonia (such as in Edessa on the one hand and in Drama on the other) during the following centuries of the Ottoman occupation and from there on they were trickling taking up all the lowlands (no Slavs in the mountains, only indigenous Greeks there), precisely because the Turkish pashas made good use of them cultivating their fields. That meant that Slavs were flooding the town bazaars and thus unfortunately a bulgaro-slavic dialect was spreading inadvertedly even among ethnic Greeks coming down from the surrounding mountains - this being a phenomenon quite well monitored (the same occurred in North Epirus with Albanians), it is the language of the military one the one hand and of the bazaar on the other which tends to proliferate. Even Turks back then had taken up to speaking slavobulgarian. Still the Greek populations did not exactly speak a slavobulgarian dialect but a rainbow of various pidgins with varying degrees of mixing of Greek with Slavobulgarian as well as Turkish. Ethnic Bulgarians (i.e. the clear cut Slavs) were still a minority and a recent and very foreign one and of course still Thessaloniki had absolutely no Bulgarian population - the first Bulgarian must have set foot decades after 1821 and foremost during the onset of the railway projects since Bulgarians and other Slavs were used as cheap labour by Ottomans and their German henchemen. Due to the harsh treatment of Greeks, the Bulgarians were having a great time enjoying the tolerance of the Turks who of course always preferred the slave-like Bulgarians rather than the rebelious Greeks. More than 35 Greek rebellions and revolutions between 1453 and 1821 and zero Bulgarian revolutions between 1382 (fall of Sofia) and 1877 (which was fully a Russian-organised war and not any innate will of the Bulgarians to rebel). It is thus exasperating that you dare claim Greeks had "privileges" in comparison to Bulgarians. Yes they had the privilege of being the most slaughtered and genocided of all Christian nations of the Ottoman Empire. If you wanted you could have that privilege but your ancestors were smart enough not to demand such one.

[@malin0338]

when you see how a Macedonian burns the Bulgarian flag, you will understand our attitude towards Macedonia ...... when they call the Bulgarian people (one of the oldest in Europe) Bulgarian Tatars, and say that our history was a lie, you will understand our position ....

[@mrvoronin5920]

Macedonia is Bulgaria there is too much evidence that even your language is invented and is Old Bulgarian with few foreigners from Serbian.

[@bobantheighty6141]

The true meaning of the word Bulgaria is: "Rebel With a Cause" or metaphorically speaking: "Stormy Petrel". Bulgarians were Christians from the very beginning of the Christianity! They had the privilege to receive the religion directly from the Apostles, but after the Armenians and Greeks! Few people know the fact that when the Greeks baptize Russians, they leave books in Old Bulgarian, which is a great proof of what a huge role the Greeks, the Bulgarians and their Bogomil movement played in the spread of Christianity in Eastern Europe! After that, many bookmen and priests in Kievan Russia and Lithuania who preached the word of God were Bulgarians, such as Metropolitan Cyprian, Metropolitan Gregory Tsimbalak and others. We should mention the fact that the great work of the Thessaloniki brothers St. Cyril and Methodius, who are Greeks in origin, gives the foundations of Slavic literacy and culture! Later they will be honoured as the Apostles to the Slavs. God bless both nations indeed! ☦️🇧🇬🦁💞🏛️🇬🇷☦️

[@tatjanavelkova5814]

@@mrvoronin5920 MAKEDONIJA IS MAKEDONIJA. jedi gljive .

[@danielagjor1805]

False. You were fascists and mistreated our Macedonian people in the second world war

[@MegaKirile]

In NM you can be anything, Romanian,Greek, Serbian, Roma, Albanian and have all of your human rights, but If you are Bulgarian your life will became HELL. You get fired from your job, hunted by ultras, repressed by authorithies, attacked by police. If Bulgaria did not protect their citizens there NOW, there will be no 2nd chance.

[@ohrid59mk76]

in Macedonia you can be anything and you have all human rights ! thats true ! why Bugaria ( EU member ) dont recognize minorityes ? why Greece ( also EU member) dont recognize minorityes ?in GR and BG lives big Macedonnian minority .

[@petremitrov]

@@ohrid59mk76 Minorities can be recognized or not. There is not legal requirements in EU law about minorities. All depend on your Constitution. Bulgarian constitution has not recognised any minorities. All rights are equal for all Bulgarians citizens. However, once you recognised minorities in your Constitution you have to recognise ALL of them in order to be democratic country. North Macedonia recognise minorities in its Constitution but not Bulgarian minority. Similar approach was done in the Third Reich about Jews. This is a type of genocidal approach to one nation.

[@ohrid59mk76]

@@petremitrov Petre ebivetre , ako samiot ne priznavas malcinstva togas nemas obraz da go baras toa od drugi drzavi ! inace vo megjunarodnata politika tie malcinski prava i ninoto nivo naajcesto se reshavaat na osnova a reciprocitet ( ako mi priznaes ti , ke ti priznam i jas ) ! toa se pravilata !

[@petremitrov]

@@ohrid59mk76 Your knowledge of international law is similar to your knowledge of history somewhere near zero. It is according to the constitution of country. Some country like Yugoslavia and USSR had minorities by default. After their collapse they used them for bloody conflicts.. Some do not recognised ethnic minorities but recognize rights and languages( like Bulgaria) some like Greece do not allow foreign languages even. It is up to the country constitution. However, ONCE you recognise minority in your constitution you have to take care of it and not become as a Third Reich which ignore ONLY Jews. If you are in good relation with Albanians, and if they and your "liberators" Serbians allow North Macedonia to change the constitution again you can ignore ALL your minorities. But right now you can not ignore ONLY one minority- BULGARIANS. Further more until 1918 all people in whole region of Macedonia identified them selves as BULGARIANS. Fact well known to all well educated historians and politicians all over world and all ordinary citizens of Balkans.

[@ohrid59mk76]

@@petremitrov e moj Petre , si bese i ostana ebivetre HA,HA,HA ! ne odi toa taka , prava za Makedonci vo BG , pa posle baraj prava za " bugari " vo MK !

[@IlianNachev]

Wow "everybody is fed up with Bulgaria's stance on North Macedonia..." Isn't that just fascinating! The EU members favor an ex-Communist country, which has not covered the requirements it was asked to cover, over an actual EU member, which has the right to block a new country from starting negotiations for acceptance into the alliance! Isn't that a precedent! When Bulgaria was trying to enter the EU, it had to cover every EU member's wishes and then some! Even so, some EU members still kept on blocking it for far more insignificant reasons (a lot of the time for no apparent reason) and yet that did not lead to all other members becoming "fed up..." Now that Bulgaria has a very good reason to veto North Macedonia, all it's (Bulgaria's) allies seem to try to humiliate it in favor of a non-member state, who is trying to bully itself into the union along with it's Communist created propaganda and narrative! What a shame! Why didn't the EU members feel so "fed up" when Greece kept vetoing North Macedonia for 20 years? Wasn't it enough that Bulgaria was robbed of half of its lands after the world wars? How much more can one country be defaced? Where were all these demanding nations when Bulgaria needed help to fight off the Ottomans in the 14th century? But it felt good when Bulgaria stopped the Arab invasion into Europe in the 8th century, didn't it? What does Bulgaria want that make other EU members so "fed up?" Is it so bothersome when someone calls for justice and truth? Yes, there is a formed Macedonian nationality today, but it wasn't so in the beginning of the 20th century and North Macedonia needs to recon with that, just like Bulgaria accepts the newly formed Macedonian nationality. North Macedonia is welcome into the EU, but not as a liar and a bully. Sorry, but all Macedonian (regional term) revolutionaries of the late 19th and early 20th century identified as Bulgarian. IMRO was created by people with Bulgarian national consciousness. There are countless documents that prove it! Just see what the last leader of the historical IMRO, Ivan Mihaylov, said in his last interview from 1991 on this topic and the truth will hit you like a ton of bricks... It is readily available on this platform (KZbin). North Macedonia needs to start treating their citizens with Bulgarian national consciousness as equals and not to abuse them and call them "fascists'," "Mongols," "Tatars" and so on. Is Western Europe starting to favor Communism and Communist values? Perhaps they need to warm up to North Korea and Cuba then... What a utter nonsense this "fed up" attitude is! If anyone should be fed up, that is Bulgaria! I better stop before my blood pressure reaches 200...

[@JamesKerLindsay]

So much there to unpack! But before getting too much into the victim territory, perhaps it’s worth reflecting on the fact that Bulgaria chose the wrong side in two world wars. In the Second World War, that meant siding with the Nazis. Seriously, you don’t really get to complain. Bulgaria allied with a genocidal regime. As for taking the side of former communists, what was Bulgaria as well. Again, it was notorious for having been one of the most fiercely subservient of the Soviet satellite states. You see a bit of a trend here? And it takes quite some stretch to present North Macedonia as the bully in this story. Seriously, of all the comments I have had on this video, and there have been thousands, this one is perhaps most lacking in national self-awareness. Seriously, you really need to take a step back and try to be more critical of Bulgaria’s history. No one should simply defend their country, no matter what. All countries have dark pasts they need to confront. Bulgaria is no different.

[@IlianNachev]

@@JamesKerLindsay, Of course North Macedonian elite acts like a bully! They spend millions in lobbying and buying opinions, just so they can further their agenda and squeeze through, completely disrespecting an EU member in the process. They know the truth, but will not admit it, blinded by their hatred towards their own blood. Hatred, instilled in them through killings and imprisonments at first and then through shameless propaganda for generations. My comment is lacking in self-awareness? 😮 I am sharing my opinion as a descendant of Macedonian Bulgarians from Aegean Macedonia. Yes, every country has its dark moments, but let me ask you this - where did Bulgaria send its army to fight in WW2? Not a single soldier was sent to fight very far away from Bulgaria’s own borders. All 48,000 Bulgarian Jews were saved, while Jews were slaughtered like cattle all over Europe! All Bulgaria wanted was to regain its stolen territories, which were inhabited by a Bulgarian majority. All other countries are so innocent and yet all our neighbors took a piece of Bulgaria. The real issue has always been the fear of a large and powerful state in Eastern Europe, which would control the sea ports. That is why Bulgaria was not allowed to be united after the collapse of the Ottoman Empire. It wouldn’t even be as big as it is now if it wasn’t for the boldness and patriotism of both The Kingdom of Bulgaria and Eastern Rumelia. They disregarded the warnings and threats of the great powers of the time and united anyway. Vardar Macedonia was denied to them, even though 85% of the population identified as Bulgarian. And that was done to appease Serbia as they were left landlocked and Austria wanted certain lands for which they had to offer something in exchange. The same treatment was dealt to Bulgaria by the Russians too, when they took Moldova from Romania. Then again Bulgarian lands were offered to the Romanians in exchange… And in the end Bulgaria is the black sheep, isn’t it? Now, let’s address the Communist days of Bulgaria that you used as an argument against it. What choice did Bulgaria have which sphere of influence it would fall under after WW2? The map was drawn by the victors from the west and the Soviets - you can take this, we will keep that… After enormous efforts in the two Balkan wars and both World wars, taking on the main burden against the Ottomans while backstabbed by its “allies” right after, going through three national catastrophes and brutally robbed by virtually everyone involved, Bulgaria had only one thing left to try to achieve and that was to survive. How could have Bulgaria resisted the Communist Soviet Union, when the west gifted it to them? Lastly, Bulgaria may have been Communist, but it did not take its Communist ways into the EU. North Macedonia is still ruled by people who cherish the times of Yugoslavia a d who refuse to shake their old ways. And that is the shape and form they want to be in when entering the EU… Yes, I love my country and I don’t see anything wrong with that, even though today this is not in fashion. When North Macedonia publicly admits to some widely accepted historical facts, then Bulgaria would grant them access to the EU. Simple as that.

[@danielvasev5314]

@@JamesKerLindsay ''And it takes quite some stretch to present North Macedonia as the bully in this story.'' - did you totally forget about the systematic, institutionalized harassment of Bulgarians in North Macedonia that began during communism and continues even today? And what exactly do you mean by the expressions "the dark past of Bulgaria" and 'a bit of a trend here'? I don't understand the connection you are making between the time before and after 1944, so please clarify these arguments. It is true that the first years of communism in Bulgaria had a very strong ideological coloration and there were repressions against dissenters (condemned a long time ago). However, this does not apply to the entire time period from 1944 to 1989, so not all of these 45 years can be justifiedly viewed as a "dark past". The dependence on the USSR should not be exaggerated so much - it was mainly at the level of foreign policy, and Bulgaria conducted most of its internal policies independently and without any foreign interference (in contrast to the current situation, within the EU).The alliance with Hitler was only in the name of the national cause - according to the modern understandings of that time - and accordingly, no serious Bulgarian historian (I repeat - A SERIOUS HISTORIAN, not an empty-headed paid Euro-Atlantic ''analyst'' or a pseudo-historian financially dependent on various Euro-Atlantic NGOs) considers this alliance to be some type of ideological binding of Bulgaria with Nazism (''dark past''). Bulgaria has every right in the world to complain regularly, because in the past its interests and needs were repeatedly and extremely rudely trampled on ('let me use your expression - 'a bit of a trend here'') - sometimes by arrogant Westerners, sometimes by ideologically blinded communists, sometimes by greedy neighbors, and this is how the current unpleasant situation came to be. But no longer. Enough. This can't go on like this any longer. It's time for a change for the better. Sorry dear Prof., but Bulgaria is different. And very special, too. 😉 It is a country with first-class cultural heritage, history, nature, and traditions, and it definitely deserves to be much more respected at European and international level. Don't you think so?

[@mladendilov3252]

It is like somebody read last 5 pages of a book and now telling a story about it. Such a shame!

[@JamesKerLindsay]

I know the region. This whole history issue is a smokescreen. Bulgaria and North Macedonia have a dispute. What matters is that Bulgaria is abusing its EU membership to push its side of the story - whatever it might be. Frankly, after two weeks of comments from various Bulgarian nationalists I have no real idea what Bulgaria actually wants!?

[@ТеодорАнгелов-ч8э]

@@JamesKerLindsay If you won't prepare with the history well enough to make a video about it, better don't...

[@pechenqga]

@@JamesKerLindsay man pls dont coment when u dont understand....

[@pidu4588]

@@pechenqga It's his video, not yours mate.

[@vaniog29]

@@JamesKerLindsay what you're trying to do is oversimplify a very complex issue , for you neither country really matters so it's very easy to stay on the side and say , Macedonia good , Bulgaria bad. North Macedonia is much more nationalist than Bulgaria is. What Bulgaria wants is very clearly stated in the contract Macedonia agreed to and then backed out of . If you think appropriating ones history and historical figures , defacing and trying to erase Bulgarian archeological artefacts just because they don't fit the manufactured history you made up, propagating actual hate towards a nation in highschool , decades of abuse to Bulgarians living there , human rights violations , then you really are not the authority to share opinion on European values . Meanwhile half their countrys citizens have claimed ancestry and have a Bulgarian passport .

[@zaharigarkov9383]

You present a professional look, but despite this, historian context and events leading up to the modern conflict were poorly reviewed and considered. Good effort nonetheless!

[@bobantheighty6141]

North-Macedonians must return the bones of our big hero from Macedonia Gotse Delchev/Гоце Делчев back to Bulgaria, thieves of Bulgarian History. The communist leader Georgi Dimitrov gave them to the dictator Tito by order of Stalin and the Comintern, and this great injustice to the Bulgarian people must be restored immediately! Reminder: In the history of the Bulgarians from the Macedonian region, thousands of young people have died, all concerned and loving their kin and fatherland. They all longed to live, but freely and united in Free Mother Bulgaria. Hence comes the two popular expressions of the Bulgarians written in golden letters in their history: "Freedom or Death" & "Unity makes Strength" 🗽☦️🦁🇧🇬

[@leaveme3559]

In other words he isn't pro bulgaria so it sucked

[@connorkenway09]

@@leaveme3559 it's anti-bulgarian that is the problem. We won't allow a country that despises us and cleansed/converted people with bulgarian conciousness to join the EU.

[@leaveme3559]

@@PETrov_Yo it's petty

[@Plovdivman1]

With such friends Bulgaria does not need enemies. As though Bavarians to claim that Prusssians are mongols and non germans by nature.

[@TervelBG]

Its very simple issue - when North Macedonia stops stealing other people'a history, they can enter the EU. Thats it. It took 20 years for them to stop claiming Greeks history. It might take another 20 for them to either admit they are Bulgarians or stop stealing historical figures before 1945.

[@Aleks_Ovski416]

They aren't stealing anyone history if its their own. History is not tied to language. The people are 60%+ Mediterranean, they are from the region.

[@Vizzit707]

@@Aleks_Ovski416 Just bacause they were born in/lived in the region for a part of their life doesnt necessarily mean that they are macedonians.

[@Aleks_Ovski416]

@@Vizzit707 Yes it does.

[@Vizzit707]

@@Aleks_Ovski416 No it doesn't

[@Aleks_Ovski416]

@@Vizzit707 Yes it does, you clearly have no idea how identities work or citizenship for that matter, let alone genetics.

[@MrSirivan24]

You make it seem like, the region of Macedonia was was never part of the Bulgarian empires in the past and we only took interest in the region after our independence...two of Bulgaria's old capitals are in that region, Skopie and Ohrid...this territory is a de'jure part of our history and nation and we will not back down from blocking their false clams on our history! If Western and Eastern Germany didn't unite and one claimed it had nothing to do with the other, would you believe that? The short answer is no, why should this be any different?

[@bobantheighty6141]

Bulgaria and North Macedonia are home to one of the oldest nations in Europe, but divided into two after 1944. A very sad picture of a very ancient and glorious people in the past, represented by its brave fighters and outlaws who constantly fighting to death for Freedom of Bulgaria from Turkish Slavery and for the unification of the already liberated parts of motherland with the still enslaved Macedonia, the lost child of Bulgaria! Link: kzbin.info/www/bejne/f4TJloR5ZqaKqLs In memory of the fallen fighters in the village of Banitsa on May 4, 1903, for the unification of Macedonia to the mother Bulgaria and for the eternal memory of the generations: Gotse Delchev from Kukush, apostle and voivode; Dimitar Guschanov from Krushovo village, voivode; Stefan Duhov from Turlis village, chetnik; Stoyan Zahariev from Banitsa village, revolutionary; Dimitar Palyankov from Brody village, revolutionary. Their covenant was - Freedom or Death/Свобода или Смърт (written before 1945 in Old Bulgarian: Свобода или Смърть. Broken BG/MK: Бугаријо, за тебе тие умреа, маjко, за правда и слобода! Линк: kzbin.info/www/bejne/h4vcq6iMgNt2p7s Зайди, зайди, ясно слънце. ⚔️Freedom or Death☦️ 🗽☦️🦁🇧🇬

[@tatjanavelkova5814]

MAKEDONIJA --- COUNTRY. SKOPJE and OHRID MACEDONIAN TOWNS ! ! !

[@g.d.1722]

You gloss over many important historical facts and, equally, omit crucial historic events. 1. 1876 - The Conference of Constantinople determines the ethnic composition of Ottoman occupied Europe. Macedonia, which includes FYROM and large parts of what is now Greek Macedonia are documented as having predominantly Bulgarian (not "Slavic") populations. 2. 1878 - The Congress of Berlin tears up all Bulgarian lands, giving Macedonia and Eastern Thrace back to the Ottomans, allows Serbia to invade and ethnically cleanse Bulgarian Morava, and affirms the transfer of Northern Dobrudja (populated by Bulgarians) to Rumania. 3. 1912-13 Balkan Wars. Even though Serbia and Greece agree that Macedonia should be returned to Bulgaria upon defeating the Ottoman Empire, both countries invade Macedonia and renege on the agreement. This leads to Bulgaria joining the Axis in WWI to achieve its national goal of reunification of all Bulgarians under one nation. 4. After the defeat in WWI Serbia and Greece make a systematic effort to ethnically cleanse Macedonia by killing and expelling hundreds of thousands of Bulgarians from their historic homeland. An estimated 650 000 Bulgarian refugees flood into the Tzardom of Bulgaria from the lost territories. 5. The highly aggressive genocidal anti-Bulgarian policies of Serbia and Greece continue in the following decades with the sole purpose to erase all traces of Bulgarian identity in these regions. 6. After the Second World War a new wave of ethnic and cultural cleansing takes root in Yugoslav Macedonia directed by the Serbian communists, who, seeing that they could not convince Macedonians that they are Serb and not Bulgarian, embark on a full scale persecution of any manifestation of Bulgarian identity. The Serbs invent a Macedonian language by inserting certain Serbianisms to try to alter the Macedonian dialect into its own language. All this is done to make sure Macedonia never rejoins Bulgaria. 7. The current history of North Macedonia is a disjointed fairy tale of invented narratives and fabricated "facts" which the North Macedonians have put in their textbooks and parade as "truth". When it comes to North Macedonia, Europe now has an opportunity to right a grave historical wrong done to Bulgaria which dates back to the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire and the deliberate partition of the Bulgarian nation among several states. For once Europe should stand with Bulgaria and stand up for historical truth. Instead, all we see it nonsensical mutterings of people with very superficial understanding of the region. Your presumptuousness is astonishing!

[@ja_aq.ov_]

History tells you little of you refuse to deal with what's in the present. National identities are created, change, split, and fuse all the time, so appealing to history doesn't solve anything. Europe is uninterested in nationalism (and rightly so); squabbles over Scotland, the Low Countries, Catalonia, north Italy, etc... "Yay! More nationalist consolidation and sentiment" is not a universal view. Not to mention that the concept of nation is incredibly recent, making the historical framing anachronistic at best.

[@bobantheighty6141]

The guest in the Studio is the Macedonian Bulgarian Mr. Petar Kolev/Петър Колев, a politician, publicist and pro-Bulgarian activist from North Macedonia. He is a former member of the Bulgarian IMRO-BND/ВМРО - Българско Национално Движение, Chairman of the Macedonian-Bulgarian Friendship Association/ Сдружение за Македонско-Българско Приятелство and also Chairman of a political party - Civil Democratic Union/Граждански Демократичен Съюз. Линк: kzbin.info/www/bejne/g3_Rc5mDYrGNe5Y The topic is: Basic Human Rights in The Republic of North Macedonia. On this subject the Macedonian Bulgarians have several very important and fundamental questions to the European public, namely: 1️⃣ Why and for how long for the Republic of North Macedonia, the Macedonian Bulgarians will not exist and for that reason they are not written in the Macedonian Constitution like all others ethnic groups!?! Isn't this a form of pure discrimination, officially carried out by the Macedonian authorities in a state in 21 century and future candidate for the European membership?!? We explain that for this reason, Bulgarians do not have equal rights with other peoples in North Macedonia and cannot work in the state administration and institutions. In short, they are treated as second-hand people, which is unacceptable!!! 2️⃣ How long will Bulgarian children go to the schools in North Macedonia to learn that their ancestors are Tatars, Mongols, Fascists, Occupiers and all the evil in this world!?! The language of hatred against Bulgaria and the Bulgarians must stop immediately! 2️⃣ When will the authorities in North Macedonia officially recognize the genocide perpetrated for decades on the Macedonian Bulgarians and the process of massive and heavy de-Bulgarianization started by the Serbs after 1913, and continued by Communists of ASNOM/АСНОМ with their "Law on the Protection of the Macedonian National Honor"/"Закон за Защита на Македонската Национална Чест" in the then Socialist Federal Republic of Macedonia in Tito's Yugoslavia!?! We explain that the purpose of the law was to separate the just created in 1944 the new Macedonian nation from the Bulgarian one, as the separation from the Bulgarians was seen as confirmation that the Macedonians were a separate ethnic community and already exist! In support of the new nation, also a new so-called Macedonian language was created on August 2, 1944. On this date, the Western Bulgarian dialect from the region of Macedonia became the official Macedonian language by removing of some most characteristic Bulgarian letters of the alphabet as "Ъ", "Ь", "Ю", "Я", "Щ" which have been replaced by some Serbian letters: Љ, Њ, Ј и Џ and also adding of many Serbian borrowings, so that the Newest & Youngest Language In The World to be distinguished and separated as much as possible from its Bulgarian Original and to be associated only with the Yugoslav Group of Languages. Reminder: In the first years after the declaration of independence of the Republic of Macedonia from Yugoslavia in 1991, a number of Macedonian writers and linguists proposed the removal of Serbian letters from the alphabet and the return of letters such as "Ъ" and "Ь". Of course, the proposal was not accepted and the participants were seriously reprimanded. PS: Well done, Bulgarian Lion! Be always in good health, brave and guardian of everything Bulgarian in this artificially created state and product of the Comintern. Mother Bulgaria will always protect her children in that so poisoned ex Bulgarian land bearing its new name North Macedonia! Freedom for the Bulgarians in North Macedonia! 🗽☦️🦁🇧🇬

[@g.d.1722]

Great interview! Perhaps you should move the link to the interview to the the top/start of your comment, so that people may see it better. Thanks for posting!

[@bobantheighty6141]

@@g.d.1722 , Job done!

[@77belts]

@@ja_aq.ov_ very true, identities do change, and as a bulgarian and a westerner, i do respect the right of people who used to identify as bulgarian in the past to now have their own nation and identity in north macedonia, and to recognise as macedonian. Which is why bulgaria and north macedonia need to come together to recognise the bulgarian and macedonian languages and identities across both nations, and then bulgaria will let north macedonia in the eu. I see it as a great compromise

[@klavdiyakosturkova4908]

With all my respect you have missed many key points in this dispute. The demands of Bulgarian government are not about Macedonian identity is about historical facts. In Macedonian schools the history has been put in such a way to generate hate against Bulgaria. It won't be very European if Macedonia join without solving this matter. Europe is about being ready to accept others and respect the facts. The story stretch a way before WW1 and WW2. P. S. Imagine if US suddenly decide that they speak in fact American language and they have absolutely nothing in common with Great Britain....

[@europetruck5879]

jas sum albanec damo da vi kaza toa e nesto gadno sto go pravite a drigo ke napraime nesto so 2 cerveni

[@klavdiyakosturkova4908]

@@europetruck5879 Много поздрави и уважение към всички Албанци. Кое по-точно е гадно ?!

[@Voyager759]

There is no such language as Catalonian! Catalans speak Catalan. It’s the official language of Andora, and it’s a co-official language in some autonomous communities in Spain, including Catalonia.

[@sunshinegirl6718]

@@europetruck5879 toa a je isto kako kosovskite albanci da plukat po Albanija i da velat deka nemaat nisto zaedničko so albancite!

[@ysti6552]

Yes. North Macedonia Is the country of Alexander the great and Aristotle philosopher Under the Slavic and Bulgarian control. That is the reason they lost their Ancient Greek language And alphabet.

[@simostoitzev]

Thank you for your video James. Assuming you are British how would you feel if Australia denied linguistic and cultural link to England and called its language Australian?

[@bobantheighty6141]

Perfectly explained!👏

[@JamesKerLindsay]

I’d think it was silly and ahistorical. But that’s not the point. I see why Bulgaria is annoyed. And I point out that the Macedonians have constructed their identity on anti-Bulgarian views. The point is that Bulgaria doesn’t really know what the issue is exactly, or what exactly it wants to achieve. Just read through the comments. Some say it is about x and want y. Others say it’s about a and want b. The point is that no one really understands Bulgaria’s position. More to the point, there is extreme irritation that it is weaponising its EU membership to force through its point. As one friend from the region said, they just want to be right - whatever right might mean. This is the real problem here. Sofia has done an extraordinarily bad job of handling this.

[@bobantheighty6141]

The problem is extremely extensive, deep and heavy to be easily understood, especially by westerners!!! This professor is an excellent example of this. Many things and years are intertwined between Bulgaria and Yugoslavia, so that only a Westerner could speak so superficially and easily about it! There are many fates, facts and tragedies involved in this so sensitive problem, so to speak in this so ignorant, careless and contemptuous way is absolutely unacceptable! The stereotypical thinking has not yet left some western so called "brains"! I can only express my indignation, regret and contempt for this professor, who repeats like broken vinyl the same learned phrases, how none of the other member states understand the Bulgarian point of view or how Bulgaria uses its position as a member of the European Union to impose identity, policies and thesis upon North Macedonia, as the historical truths have no meaning here, because we, as Europeans, must focus only on our common European future!?! In a word: To enter into the European Family with lies and forged history, where values ​​and facts no longer matter!?! PS: I have only one word for this weird logic... SHAME!

[@JamesKerLindsay]

@@bobantheighty6141 A tediously thoughtless and narrow minded reply. I’ve been working on SE Europe all my career. No one has ever accused me of not knowing or being able to understand the region. I lived in the region. I’ve even married into it. The problem isn’t that westerners can’t understand the region. It’s that we can’t understand what Bulgaria wants on this issue. The problem is at your end, not ours! :-)

[@bobantheighty6141]

@@JamesKerLindsay , It is a pity that after so many detailed and well-argued facts presented by hundreds of Bulgarians here, you still pretend that you do not understand where the problem is! OMG... Owls are not what they are or are the Elephants already pink!?! PS: Thanks God no all people are so flat minded like you, Professor. By the way, there is no excuse for such ignorance!!!

[@taniakapchina3937]

Such a shame and missing knowledge. If this is an expert, God save Europe! This is how lies are spread as “true”

[@JamesKerLindsay]

Read through the Bulgarian comments here and try to tell me exactly what Bulgaria wants. Seriously, it's no wonder no one knows what the issue is. Bulgaria clearly doesn't.

[@taniakapchina3937]

@@JamesKerLindsay Will answer you! Bulgarian Veto is connected to the fact that North Macedonia is replacing the history facts. If we accept it, we will be forced to change our history. Just because it will be convenient to someone else? In this case Europe, North Macedonia, others… If you would be on our place, would you change your history? Bulgaria is the oldest Country in Europe with the same name and geographical territory, a nation that brought culture to Europe, the one that had in 9th - 10th century the 3rd European Cultural centre after Rome and Byzantium, that has own alphabet spreaded in many Countries and independent church that was accepted from Rome and Byzantium. During the turkish slavery Bulgaria was the Country that had more teachers on the head of the population than any other European Country. All children - poor and rich could read and count - show me one European Country that had it till 19th century. Do you think that we are ignorants not knowing their own history? Where we stay politically today, as a place of so many interests does not mean we have to forget who we are as Bulgarians, and what responsibility we bear for our children. I hope you now got the point. It’s not about North Macedonia

[@zagorthegreat]

@@taniakapchina3937 Bulgaria didn’t give any culture to Europe. You just turn the points and do distort the history and the truth. Because you are IN EU you’re trying to copy Greece in blackmailing Macedonia. You’re taking an advantage of your position in EU, but Macedonians will never ever obey and accept your fascist claims if we had to do it to Greece. Better search for your real ancestors Tatars and your leaders-khans Asparuh, Krum, Omurtag, Kubrat etc than to harass Macedonians.

[@newreast3904]

@@taniakapchina3937 OWN alfabet...dont make me ΛΑΦ....

[@newreast3904]

@@taniakapchina3937 so if you dont forget the history of bulgaria you should for sure remember(but tend not to say it in your cute nationalistic paragraph above) that the original bulgarians were not europeans, but on the contrary asians that drunk from skulls and had a horsetail for a ''flag''. how these guys brought culture to Europe only you know that....

[@glenn07777]

Identity theft must be established as a crime between nations too (not only between individuals).

[@bobantheighty6141]

During the French Presidency of the European Union, Albania will receive the green light to start negotiations for joining our common family! And of course, North Macedonia will, receive another big VETO with pride from Bulgaria and its people, until this state breaks with communism and the dirty games from the time of Yugoslavia! FREEDOM FOR BULGARIANS IN NORTH MACEDONIA! 🗽☦️🦁🇧🇬

[@blackpill7856]

@@bobantheighty6141 just divide Macedonia with Albania and Bulgaria

[@g.d.1722]

Great comment!

[@bigorstojanov184]

Bulgarian fascism is a crime that we Bulgarians have be held responsible. We should let our brothers Macedonias free from our ignorant view of reality.

[@healingrays3762]

@@blackpill7856 then Kosovo ''liberators'' will be Bulgarian neighbors? The "liberators" of Kosovo, destroy thousand-year-old churches, desecrate graves, beat priests, rape nuns... kzbin.info/www/bejne/kHWmpWqdppuCd7s

[@avstraliskizivot]

I am Macedonian and despite understanding some Bulgarians words I still need an interpreter in order to communicate with them. By the way the name “North” is a political name never accepted by people in Macedonia

[@JamesKerLindsay]

Are you sure? That’s the first time I’ve ever heard anyone say that. To be very honest, it sounds like you are making a bit of a political point here.

[@avstraliskizivot]

@@JamesKerLindsay no comment

[@JamesKerLindsay]

@avstraliskizivot Haha! I just asked a Serbian friend about this, to much laughter. Not a chance that you don’t understand Bulgarian and need a translator. “He’s just making a point.” Nice try though. 😀

[@avstraliskizivot]

@@JamesKerLindsay I might need a lifeline to a friend too for a reality check

[@HeroManNick132]

@@avstraliskizivot Ти си жалък беглец, забягал в Австралия и се правиш на шовинист оттам! Как не те е срам?

[@taulantrraci6243]

Albanians, greeks and bulgarians on the topic of macedonian identity be like:😕, “Guys, we hate each other, but let’s together debunk this fairytale of this so-called macedonian nation” 🤣😅🤣

[@JamesKerLindsay]

Haha! Yes, I have watched with a certain degree of amusement as Greek viewers have piled into this argument to support the Bulgarians. Amusing to think how things would have been different if Bulgaria had captured and kept Thrace and some/all of Macedonia. It would be a rather different story. Interestingly, (you) Albanians have actually been rather quiet in all this! 🙂😀

[@bobantheighty6141]

Albanians in North Macedonia, Albania and Kosovo have never disputed what language they speak or what their history is? They have always been commemorative to their family roots and homeland, have always been aware of themselves and know what they want. And maybe because they were a smaller nation in the past, no one has brainwashed them away with propaganda, as is the case with the Bulgarians! If you ask the Albanians in North Macedonia what the Macedonians are like, they will tell you - Bulgarians/Българи. If you ask the Vlachs in North Macedonia how they call the Macedonians, they will tell you - Bulgari/Булгари. If you ask the Serbs up north what the Macedonians are like, they will tell you - Bulgarashi/Булгараши. Линк: kzbin.info/www/bejne/l57GhIOfrbmNe6s And the so called Macedonians themselves have buried their heads in the sands like some ostriches and continue to believe that they are descendants of Alexander the Great... WTF!?! A total disaster and a complete tragedy! Reminder: "Bugarin"/Бугарин is the Serbian word for Bulgarian/Българин in a negative way, and began to be used in Yugoslavia with the beginning of the genocide of the Bulgarian dominant population in then Socialist Republic of Macedonia and after removing the most Bulgarian letter "Ъ" from the alphabet, coded on August 2, 1944 as Macedonian. Six generations in the Republic of North Macedonia have learned that they were Serbs until World War II. And later, already in the composition of Yugoslavia - that they are Macedonians. All this aims to distance the local Orthodox population from their Bulgarian roots through hatred of family and homeland, as for the purpose, the Bulgarians are described in textbooks in North Macedonia as some "Mongol-Tatar barbaric tribe from the Turkic group of peoples." The North Macedonian state teach its children that Bulgarians are nomads who hunted and plundered. "Како скитачко племе, Бугарите постоjано го менувале местото на живеенье. Се занимавале со огледуванье коньи, со лов и ограбуванье." Nowhere is it mentioned that the proto-Bulgarians of Kuber lived in the lands between Thessaloniki and Bitola. And after all this crap, these North-Macedocations still ask themselves why Bulgaria does not support their country to start negotiations for European membership! You have to be very impudent, quite self-confident and short-sighted so that you do not see the essence of the problem! To behave as if Bulgaria is a candidate for membership, and you are something special, is tantamount to a real suicide and unprecedented stupidity! PS: God created them Bulgarians, Tito made them Macedonians! Only the truth makes us FREE! 🗽☦️🦁🇧🇬

[@bobantheighty6141]

The vast majority of the people in "The Republic of North Macedonia" are Bulgarians. The largest minority are Albanians. And of course, Alexander The Great is Greek. 📚HISTORY MATTERS📖 🇬🇷🇧🇬🦁🏛️🇬🇷🇧🇬🦁🏛️🇬🇷🇧🇬🦁

[@TinyCloud90]

Fun thing is Serbian could also say that this part is Serbia tho and that they are Serbs ( I’m an actual Serbian minority in n. Macedonia, my great grandfather came here before the Bulgarians invaded and told my dad story’s about it. So idk I’m confused

[@taulantrraci6243]

@@bobantheighty6141 No, bulgarians are majority in North Macedonia, but not “vast”. Remember they didy made any census since 2003. Albanians for sure are + 40%. Rememer until 1912, Shkupi or Skopje as you say, was the biggest albanian city, and epicenter of albanian intellectuals. Anyway, I really respect bulgarian people and histroy. Don’t worry, nobody believes the fabrication of history made by “macedonians” , that “you are tatar” and bulshit like that. They said same think about us. This fabrication of history, can be attributed to they’re inferiority complex, so the best way to defend they’re fictional identity according to them, is contesting the real identity of the others.

[@KougarManx468]

I am from N.Macedonia and l belive that Bulgaria and N.Macedonia have a shared history .

[@docdoc7691]

Agreed we're all the same. Eastern cities in N.M such as Strumica and Stip speak bulgarian

[@tatjanavelkova5814]

@@docdoc7691...... MAKEDONSKI JAZIK 12 VEKA od KIRIL i METODIJ.

[@baits9301]

Born in Bitola and raised as Macednian but now know we really are Bulgarians . I wish that we can become one like we once were .

[@bobantheighty6141]

Bulgaria and North Macedonia are home to one of the oldest nations in Europe, but divided into two after 1944. A very sad picture of a very ancient and glorious people in the past, represented by its brave fighters and outlaws who constantly fighting to death for Freedom of Bulgaria from Turkish Slavery and for the unification of the already liberated parts of motherland with the still enslaved Macedonia, the lost child of Bulgaria! Link: kzbin.info/www/bejne/f4TJloR5ZqaKqLs Зайди, зайди, ясно слънце. ⚔️Freedom or Death☦️ 🗽☦️🦁🇧🇬

[@miro9813]

Everyone Macedonian is Bulgarian, but not every Bulgarian is Macedonian. Big love from Bulgaria🇧🇬❤🇲🇰

[@natashat.8455]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/pZKaYmiKnph_ZpY you are Bulgarian the rest are serbian

[@bobantheighty6141]

@@natashat.8455 , We must highlight the fact that, everything in this fictional North Macedonia has Bulgarian roots and spirit! For example, the famous Lazar Koliševski (12 February 1914 - 6 July 2000), was a Yugoslav communist political leader in then the Socialist Republic of Macedonia and briefly in the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. He was closely allied with Tito. He was born on February 12, 1914, in the little town of St. Nicholas, annexed to Serbia in 1913 and under his original Bulgarian name - Lazar Panev Kolishev. His parents were poor farmers, as his mother was Vlach and his father was Bulgarian. Few people know that his father fought on Shipka Peak for the liberation of Bulgaria in the Russo-Turkish war. God created them Bulgarians, Tito made them Macedonians! 🗽☦️🦁🇧🇬

[@itstimmybitch]

This is true and that’s your reality and the reality of your family. A lot of Macedonians who live in present-day Macedonia are of ethnic Bulgarian origin. But people have to understand that in present-day Macedonia there are a lot of people who are not of Slavic or Bulgarian origin (such as me and my family) and the fact that our identity was taken away for someone’s political agenda hurts a lot. We’re Macedonian, and someone else coming and telling us who and what we are in the 21st century is simply bollocks. There are a lot of ethnic Bulgarians who live in Macedonia, but there are also plenty of ethnic Macedonians who still live on that territory. And we simply want to exercise our right to exist without being told that we are not what we are.

[@VV-wl8gb]

Thanks for covering this. Others in the comments have pointed out some other key aspects which you missed. One thing which is omitted, however, is the fact that Stalin was the initiator of the creation of Macedonian identity, language and demonising everything Buglarian together with Yugoslavia. This was an attempt by the Soviets to lure Yugoslavia into closer ties with them, but Tito played his own interests. The most disgraceful thing is that the Soviet-run Bulgarian government participated actively in the invention of the Macedonian identity through the national traitor that was Georgi Dimitrov. Nowadays it is evident that Macedonia and Bulgaria will forever be separate and I think most Bulgarians accept that. The dispute is about preventing precedents being set for wrong interpretations of the past and for the explicit anti-Bulgarian propaganda and hatred used in the Macedonian media, government, education, etc. As a Bulgarian, I believe the best that could happen for the two countries is to be independent but very close in trade, politics and society as equal members of the EU (there's plenty of examples in the Germanic world of this). This, however, must go through a settlement of the historical and propaganda disputes because such appropriation of identity and hatred evident in Macedonia is not acceptable among EU member states, thus I support the veto and the following dialogue.

[@HeroManNick132]

Той беше направил същото и с нашите братя - румънците, като отмъкна Молдова, защото нали уж Бесарабия му е принадлежала и не е мислил, че повечето жители в Молдова са етнически румънци. Ала поне молдовците се държат по-добре с румънците, отколкото вардарчаните с нас.

[@mark.o.9336]

You do realise that Goce Delchev was trying to free Macedonia from the ottoman empire waayyy before Stalin was even born

[@TheNorth747]

Yeah stalin one day decided u will be called Macedonias and two million people over night accepted that. HHahahaha

[@MPF5856]

not overnight, there was a massive resistance against this propaganda and people who stood loudly against it were beaten to death and sent to concentration camps, the schools also played a massive role in the creation of the macedonian ethnicity. And in counting of the population people were deliberately written down as macedonians instead of bulgarians. If you do some research you will see the evidence yourself. There is a book called the ten lies of macedonism written by Bozhidar Dimitrov, I recommend you read it@@TheNorth747

[@tatjanavelkova5814]

@@TheNorth747 hi hi hi. DIBEK .

[@WilliamMallinson]

JAMES, WHERE HAS MY REASONABLE, HELPFUL AND POLITE CRITICISM GONE? WHO FINANCES THIS CHANNEL? PLEASE EXPLAIN, SO THAT I AM NOT OBLIGED TO PURSUE THE ISSUE.

[@МакедонскиБългарин-й1и]

James is not representative of EU. He even lives probably in country outside of EU! So his opinion is only his private opinion, maybe with some strings connected to Skopje

[@babatigosho6214]

@@МакедонскиБългарин-й1и Skopje's propaganda budget is big...i'm sure many people benefits

[@WilliamMallinson]

@V V Serious academic debate seems to be forbidden. I sense a British government NATO agenda, orchestrated by the Foreign Office.

[@WilliamMallinson]

@V V Britain is doing America's bidding.

[@TheNeptuneArc]

Its called common sense. Get some yourself.

[@Sunwellis]

Several millions of Bulgarians belong to families originating from the geographic region of Macedonia. These people cherish their Bulgarian national roots, traditions and culture. North Macedonians are famous for the post-mortem forgery of the ethnicity of late heroes and historical figures (merely replacing BG by MK). Although North Macedonians play a role of victims, due to their blocked EU accession process, the situations is just opposite - victims are millions of EU citizens whose predecessors’ identity and memory have shamelessly been stolen! How would you feel if you catch someone peeing on your grandfather’s grave? Hopefully, this explains the political issue in the simplest possible way?

[@mkdsun]

What a dumb argument..

[@Sunwellis]

@@mkdsun I see - you were appointed as an evaluator! :)

[@mkdsun]

@@Sunwellis several millions " bulgarians" today dont have anything with Macedonia, macedonians, just because sentimental memory of the time they were not alive, we Macedonians today have to be a victims of the bulgars ridiculous view and frustrations of bulgar politic with the foggy past. We all live today my not dear neighbor, not yesterday, not tomorrow , but today, and its ludacris in 21 century one country to veto, blocking another country based on idiotic claims for stealing history. Just a simple q, why Bulgaria didnt veto Macedonia for nato, did we steal your history then, such a hypocrites..

[@Sunwellis]

@@mkdsun Interestingly, who authorised you to represent the whole region of Macedonia? Please keep your ambitions to the North! And what about the "foggy past", Mr Yugoslavian? :)

[@mkdsun]

@@Sunwellis You can ask the same q ur self, who authorize and what authority in the 16 th soviet respublic give u permission to talk nonsense about and to blame Macedonia for "stealing" someone identity, that is so idiotic mr Russian creation.

[@danyvasev8847]

Eurosceptic here. Hi, I've been following your channel for a long time. You have very well-structured videos, I like them very much. On the topic - I agree with some of the criticism against our country (in terms of the fact that it has not done a good job of clarifying its position). In the course of this debate, however, some politicians and diplomats from the EU and the US have allowed themselves really unnecessary, stupid, and provocative statements. In recent months, many of them have said that we should be under "pressure" to step down. There were even frankly rude and absurd remarks from a German diplomat (Schrammeier, if I remember correctly) who hinted that if we insisted on not accepting the ridiculous claims of our southwestern neighbor, the EU would impose financial sanctions on us. In a North Macedonian talk show, another EU guy persistently repeated that Bulgaria has no friends and allies, that no one shows understanding for our position, that the EU had to wait, as from an ambush, a convenient moment/opportunity to force us to retreat from our position, and so on. These are all things that hardly any Bulgarian citizen, regardless of religion, ethnicity, and political beliefs, would accept as adequate, polite, or normal. How would you comment on the calls from our partners from the United States (through a State Department report) and the EU (as far as I remember - through a resolution adopted by the European Parliament) about how we are expected to recognize the existence of a fictitious "Macedonian minority" ''? Do they really not understand that the recognition of a non-existent Macedonian minority inevitably threatens the Bulgarian territorial integrity, as it legitimizes the claims of the Republic of Northern Macedonia to the Pirin region (Blagoevgrad region)? In reality, there is no such minority in our country. There are individuals funded by Northern Macedonia and supported by various NGOs. They have been running a propaganda campaign for many years, trying to present themselves as a minority. Unfortunately, they condemn Bulgaria in Strasbourg, because for some reason our EU partners refuse to understand that these people are fraudsters. And the Strasbourg court is guided in its decisions by a general framework for the protection of the right of association. In this way, it puts on the same level these fraudsters and, for example, people who are actually discriminated against because of their sexual orientation - which is absolutely unfair and absurd. This is something that the Bulgarian state has been fighting against for decades, so to speak, since the 1950s. Because it is clear that the recognition of a fictitious Macedonian minority in Bulgaria will not only legitimize the ridiculous Macedonian claims to our territory but will also open the way for interference in our internal affairs, as well as for the development of a disguised intelligence, propaganda and agitation network. in the form of "human rights NGOs" and "cultural and educational societies". The recognition of a minority of Macedonians in our country is also unconstitutional, as the Bulgarian constitution does not recognize national minorities (in the legal and technical sense of the word). There is, of course, a notion of ethnic groups, but they are all Bulgarian citizens and have rights as such. No group, so to speak, has any "collective rights based on national origin/ethnicity" or anything like that. If we make this unfair and absolutely unnecessary concession, we will give a clear signal that we have absolutely no sovereign policy, which in turn will encourage not only Northern Macedonia but also other neighboring countries, to start intervening even more intensively. in the internal life of Bulgaria. This will be the actual death sentence of the Bulgarian statehood, as encouraged by the lack of Bulgarian resistance and reaction, known and unknown foreign geopolitical actors and subjects will begin to undermine the foundations of Bulgaria in order to derive their own benefit. Such are the harsh laws of geopolitics. From the appeals of the USA and the EU, a large part of the Bulgarian citizens draw conclusions such as: "They don't think well of us, they don't even show elementary respect, neither for us nor for the truths we say. Even if we continue to have normal and even partnership relations with them, any further collaboration with them will inevitably from now on only lead to an even greater renunciation of sovereignty, national identity, honor, dignity, and security for us." Or: "Our allies are actually harming us because of different geostrategic interests. Our own interests are irrelevant to the West and can be sacrificed at any time. We have sacrificed everything in the name of the so-called Euro-Atlantic route, we made huge concessions in order to become a member of the so-called elite club (note: remember the closure of part of the nuclear units of the country's single nuclear power plant - at that time, if there was one more vote in the European Parliament, this tragedy and the subsequent another doom of misery of Bulgarian citizens could have been prevented) and in return we receive a knife in the back on an issue that may concern our very existence as a state." I cannot understand why our EU and US partners do not understand that for us, neither our relations of allies nor standard of living, economy, trade, or international reputation are as important as our territorial integrity, security, and national identity. Why do they expect that Bulgaria should absolutely always behave as an object of geopolitics, as a raft carried by the waves of geopolitics, which is almost by default obliged to have no interests that differ even in the slightest degree from those of '' the main players ''?. I also do not understand why the West does not understand that Macedonian politicians are generally cunning, hanging around and trying to abide by the bilateral treaty as little as possible (even if they openly violate it at times), because they know what the current geopolitical goal of EU and US is (to put the Western Balkans entirely within their sphere of influence so that Russia and China cannot take advantage of a possible vacuum). So they basically hope to sneak in with the help of the EU and the USA, without fulfilling anything or almost nothing from the treaty. This is exactly what they hope for - the US and the EU to force Bulgaria to agree to their absurd historical and linguistic claims, to force Bulgaria to admit the existence of a non-existent minority so that they can intervene in the country's internal politics. This will not happen, of course, because no one in Bulgaria would agree with such absurd, but if Bulgaria's partners continue to insist in this rude and humiliating way, the country will be literally pushed into the Russian-Chinese sphere of influence. And then EU and US politicians will have no one to blame but themselves. The North Macedonians have been playing the same game of nerves and pressure with Greece for more than two decades (a couple of weeks ago, I read about objections made by Greek politicians that the Prespa Treaty is not enough well implemented by the North Macedonian state.) The (almost) entirely blocked Bulgarian-North Macedonian historical commission is the best example of their behavior. The eventual entry of North Macedonia into the EU with all these problems with its neighbors unsettled is tantamount to bringing a Trojan horse into it. What is the guarantee that they will not play in favor of any of the countries from whose influence the EU and the US are trying to get them out? After all, even if EU and USA consider Zaev's SDSM as a kind of pro-EU party that can eventually give stability to the country and the region itself (a claim that is, at least, controversial, especially in view of the hysteria they have inflamed over the last year regarding people with Bulgarian citizenship - first the singer Garvanliev, now a mayoral candidate from an opposition party, which, by the way, does not differ much from the SDSM in this respect), this party can't be always the ruling one in North Macedonia. Surely Bulgaria would benefit from North Macedonia joining the EU (cultural and economic contacts will be facilitated), but not in the way this idea is being served to us at the moment ['' If you don't want us to criticize you for that that you do not trust the Macedonian politicians ( who have lied to you and continue to try to lie to you at the moment), admit their ridiculous claims and satisfy them obediently '']

[@JamesKerLindsay]

Hi Dany, thank you for such an interesting and detailed response. I really appreciate it. (And thanks for the kind words about the channel.) As you can tell, I really feel that the Bulgarian position has been counter-productive in all sorts of ways. I have had this discussion with a few others in the comments. I think that it has undermined its standing in the eyes of EU and other partners, who simply cannot understand the Bulgarian position. I also think that it has been counterproductive in terms of engaging with the Macedonians. But I do understand some of the frustration in Bulgaria. The Macedonians have clearly been poisoned against Bulgaria. That much is clear. I mentioned it in the video. I just don't think that one pushes back against this by taking a tough approach. All this does is confirm in the eyes of the Macedonians that everything they were told about Bulgaria is right. It is basic psychology. But, sadly, the government in Sofia fails to understand this, or has decided not to explain this to ordinary Bulgarians and instead play to the domestic nationalist audience. On the point about recognising a minority, I think that there is too much emphasis on the idea that this could open the way for North Macedonia to make a claim on Bulgaria. This just isn't going to happen. No one in the EU or NATO is going to allow that to happen. And if North Macedonia did start making such claims I have no doubt, even for a moment, that these countries would tell Skopje to stop these demands and would fully support Bulgaria's decision to block any EU accessions talks. However, these countries also place a strong emphasis on minority rights. Many EU states have minorities from neighbouring countries within their borders. However, they don't deny the existence of these communities because they fear that it will open the door for territorial claims. In this sense, they don't understand Bulgaria's position. Instead, Bulgaria is doing harm to its reputation by denying something that other countries feel is important over a concern that these same countries don't believe exists. The trouble is that ideas of territorial changes still have a lot of power in the Balkans. There is a sense that neighbours do want to claim territory. I understand this. But unfortunately, Bulgaria appears to see this in a way that its European partners simply don't accept. I hope this helps.

[@danyvasev8847]

@@JamesKerLindsay Thanks for the reply! I would just like to ask you, do you think there is a way to change the vicious circle of condemnation of the country in Strasbourg? Because the representatives of UMO Ilinden (as it is called, as far as I remember, the organization of these fraudsters) every year deliberately try to put in the statutes of their associations texts that call for absurd things (such as separation of the Blagoevgrad region from the jurisdiction of The Bulgarian Orthodox Church, clearing the area of ​​the presence of Bulgarian military, insisting on teaching Northern Macedonian in the schools there.) In this way, they are deliberately seeking the refusal of the Bulgarian court to register them, because they know that when Strasbourg starts looking at their cases on a higher instance, it will be guided not by the opinion of our court, but by a common framework for the freedom of association, and will inevitably rule in their favor.

[@bobantheighty6141]

The Bulgarians must follow both main lines in this fictional state named North Macedonia - the Human Rights Of The Macedonian Bulgarians there and the Assertion Of The Historical Truth until 1944 about the Bulgarian character of the population in the then Vardar Macedonia/Вардарска Македония. Everything else is wrong policies and an indulgence of foreign interests, which do not want unification of the Bulgarian Ethnic Group in the Balkans. PS: North-Macedonians are offshoots of the Bulgarian nation! Only the truth makes us FREE! 🗽☦️🦁🇧🇬

[@mitashkiveselinov2322]

@@JamesKerLindsay Dear Mr. Ker-Lindsay. I sincerely ask you not to discuss issues you do not know personally. The whole presentation here on your part is only from Wikipedia and other lean facts that you have read from here and there and watched on TV. The history of the Balkans and the Balkan countries is incomprehensible to you Westerners. This is because your countries are relatively young, and you find it difficult to find out the history of a country that is 1300+ years old and is the oldest country in Europe. It's easy to make "interesting" videos and collect likes, making money from it. It is difficult to have the capacity and time to read the true history of a 1,300-year-old country. I wish you all the best, but look at the history of your countries and how they interfere in foreign affairs. Greetings!

[@bobantheighty6141]

During the French Presidency of the European Union, Albania will receive the green light to start negotiations for joining our common family! And of course, North Macedonia will, receive another big VETO with pride from Bulgaria and its people, until this state breaks with communism and the dirty games from the time of Yugoslavia! FREEDOM FOR BULGARIANS IN NORTH MACEDONIA! 🗽☦️🦁🇧🇬

[@hristovak3603]

Мизия+Тракия+Македония= България,

[@tatjanavelkova5814]

M A K E D O N I J A == M A K E D O N I J A ! ! !

[@vladislavshahanski6913]

Има много какво да се каже на тоя господин.България има държава и история поне от 13-14 века.Част от източниците са летописците на Източната римска империя с която сме граничили и воювали .Къде е по това време Северната Македония?Дека е ?То по това време и Англия и Германия са само територии на безброй малки княжества.Не е ли нагло точно тези западни държави които не позволиха на ново освободена България да се конституира върху етническите си гряници,точно тези ,които с Сталин върху салфетки разделиха Европа и в частност Балканите и още по точно,отдадоха македонските земи на Тито,сега да ни натискат да се откажем и от историята и славното си минало?Ако историята е поле само на историците,защо,милости просим за въпроса,някои и до сега плащат конпенсации на жертвите на държавната им политика,като на тези от Холокоста например?Горе долу по това време започва е историята на Македония като отделна нация и държава,нали така?

[@gorangorgijev247]

Samo ce drzavata na Aleksandar e bila predi vasata.

[@aleksandargrozdanoski4613]

🤣🤣🤣

[@tatjanavelkova5814]

before 25 centuries FILIP KING. ALEXANDER TSAR. M A K E D O N I J A WONDERFUL COUNTRY ! ! !

[@kalinivanov2596]

Very biased video. Bulgaria was the first country to ever recognize Macedonia (which was stated in the video), however we also sold arms and sent economic and other aid to Macedonia. We were repaid not only with falsified history (for example one of Bulgaria's most famous Emperors Samuel being called "Macedonian"), but also with the burning of Bulgarian flags and the putting of Bulgarians on name lists for harrassment. My school's choir went to Ohrid (a large city in Macedonia) on a trip and were PROHIBITED from singing their songs and were heavily advised to not even speak Bulgarian, but English, to other people. In the meantime, a mass of Macedonians manage to get Bulgarian passports. To get a passport you need to be a citizen and to get a citizenship you NEED to prove your Bulgarian heritage and identity. Not only that, but Macedonian leaders have repeatedly slandered and cursed at Bulgaria's nation and national identity. Macedonian propaganda portrays Bulgarians as "Huns", "Mongols", "Tatars" and other, seemingly, inferior groups. Bulgarian troops entered Macedonia on three different occasions - first in 1912-1913 during the First Balkan War, then in 1915 during World War One and a third time in 1941 as part of the Axis Powers (Bulgaria was forced into the Axis by a 500,000 strong German army on the Danube River that demanded Bulgaria's accession to the pact). In all of these cases the Bulgarian forces were welcomed as liberators and Bulgaria spent billions in building up infrastructure, schools, hospitals, government and administration buildings. After the end of all of these three wars there were also vast migration waves from Bulgarians fleeing Macedonia (and Thrace) to return to Bulgaria where they would not be persecuted against. Many of the IMRO (Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization) members that have been identified as "Macedonian" attested, while they were still alive, that they ARE Bulgarians. Including the last living leader of the IMRO Ivan "Vanche" Mihaylov, who died in the 1990s, said "Macedonia without Bulgarians shall burn by fire". He led the IMRO and even, for a short time, established The Republic of Macedonia during WW2. Many IMRO activists have been remembered by the people via songs dating as far back as the 1890s and 1900s. Also, a small and inconsequential error, but an error nonetheless - up until the early 1920s the IMRO/VMRO was actually the IMARO/VMORO, which abbreviation would translate to "Internal Macedonian-Adrianople Revolutionary Organization" and the Organization also operated within Thrace, whose 'capital' at the time was Adrianople, a part of the Ottoman Empire as well. Video and Video Disclaimer: The following link shows the welcoming of Bulgarian troops into the city of Ohrid, now in Southwestern North Macedonia. The year is 1941. As Bulgaria was forced into the Axis, it sent no fighting forces against the UK, US, France or the USSR. In fact it maintained trade relations and peace with the USSR. One of Bulgaria's crown achievements was the saving of the Bulgarian Jews despite joining the Axis. Ohrid was given to Bulgaria by the Germans after Yugoslavia fell (in which operation no Bulgarian troops took part) and this explains the Nazi Insignia and flags seen in the video. kzbin.info/www/bejne/eIvJqYJ7nLhqkJY Post Script: I advise you to relook more deeply into the issue. A 12 minute video not only is too short to actually explain both side's arguments (you called the dispute petty so it'd be good to argue and back that statement up within the video). A lot of information is missing, both the Bulgarian and Macedonian arguments are completely or almost-fully overlooked and the issue is explained more from the side of the European Union, which looks to expand its own influence more independent of the Member-States. Germany and France, the biggest leaders of the EU after the UK left, seek to turn Macedonia off the path of Russian and/or Chinese Influence, which they believe may be caused by their accession to the EU being blocked.

[@kalinivanov2596]

@@julienandonov It takes no more than to dive deeper into the questions that naturally pop up within such a dispute: Why do European leaders call the dispute "petty" ? Is that opinion of theirs shared by their respective countries' peoples ? What are both sides' arguments ? Who wins from North Macedonia being blocked from accession talks ? Who wins from North Macedonia being allowed to accession talks ? Except the causes, what are the excuses and public reasons for both sides to act the way they do ? What's the natural history of the conflict ? It seems the person who made or scripted that video didn't ask himself any of these questions, which is a shame. It's also a shame that Bulgarian Foreign Policy has failed to address the issue internationally, outside of the Balkans or even outside of the EU and look for proper support.

[@natashat.8455]

Bulgaria was the first country to backstab The kingdom of Serbia which Macedonia was a part of and fought against.

[@kalinivanov2596]

@@natashat.8455 Now, while I find it quite petty to try and find "who attacked first", which is largely irrelevant, here are the facts: After the Unification of the Principality of Bulgaria and Eastern Rumelia in September of 1885, the Kingdom of Serbia declared war on Bulgaria on the 16th of November of the same year, while its forces had already crossed the border on the 14th of November (4th November and 2nd November in Old Style). The demands that the Serbs put down was for Bulgaria to abandon its own Unification, as well as all lands from the Serbian Border up until the Iskar River to be handed over to Serbia permanently. This included the large cities of Sofia (also the Capital) and Vidin (or Bdin). Another goal of Serbia's was to, in that way, cut off Bulgaria from any easy way into Macedonia, so that Serbia could seize it for itself. Now, the "backstab" you are talking about is most probably the start of the Second Balkan War of 1913. Let's clear the facts around the start of the war as well: A. Serbia had claimed both the Disputed and the Undisputed Zone of Macedonia for itself. The Undisputed Zone was to be granted to Bulgaria with no dispute - hence "Undisputed Zone", while the Disputed Zone was to be granted to either Bulgaria or Serbia after bilateral negotiations, mediated by the Russian Empire. With Serbia claiming both of those regions, it unilateraly broke the Treaty of London and occupied lan that belonged to Bulgaria according to all international laws. B. Bulgaria's forces only acted in the area of the lawful Bulgarian territory - that means around the area of Strumitsa, which was split between Bulgarian and Serbian troops that faced off against each other. As according to all the previous treaties this territory belonged to Bulgaria, the Bulgarian forces clashed with the Serbs and drove them away. C. What makes it obvious that Bulgaria had no intention of starting a war was the fact that the detachments ordered to attack the Serbian forces in the Strumitsa Region were ordered to immediately fall back to their old positions once their objectives had been accomplished. D. It is good to say that Serbia signed secret treaties with both Greece AND Romania prior to the end of the First Balkan War (so before any of the premises of the London Treaty were set in stone) to spark a conflict with Bulgaria and split up Bulgaria's territories. This further proves that Serbia never harbored any intention of abiding by those treaties it had with Bulgaria, so speaking of Bulgaria backstabbing Serbia is laughable at best. It is, however, extremely important to note that EVERY country in the world follows its own national interest. Nobody can blame Serbia or Romania and Greece for shifting the alliances in order to keep the balance of power in check. What I personally blame all of them for was the sneaky, deceptive way in which they did it. In short, history is not black and white.

[@PeterMilanovski]

I'm still waiting for Bulgaria's apologies for handing over the Jews to the Nazis....

[@RG-fg9eh]

@@PeterMilanovski Why didn't you protect them? Bulgarians saved all the jews in their pre-ww2 territory while you didn't even try.

[@che1878]

It's normal for Western European to not understand what is this all about. I don't know why you started the story from the end of 17th century, when the territory of now days North Macedonia were Bulgarian territory since the end of 6th century. You've missed a 1000years of history! Probably on purpose! Also Ohrid ( town in North Macedonia) was Bulgaria's capitol city for many years :) Before just 80 years ago almost everyone in the territory of now days North Macedonia identified themselves as a Bulgarians, and now they all disappeared 😏 How is this possible? Ask the Communists and be at least one time on the side of the truth!

[@tatjanavelkova5814]

OHRID 25 CENTURIES MACEDONIAN TOWN ! ! ! you... in north ice.

[@AceOfBaseFan]

Is there an Austrian language?

[@newmediaofficial]

Why should Bulgaria agree to anything that would detrimental to its interests. Would the English agree to Scotland or Northern Ireland natives demands? The video portrays Bulgaria as a "bad boy" who needs to keep quiet and do as told by the failing European project. Most of the western europeans states are fast losing their identity to a forced culture shock by its leaders. One has to visit many areas of Germany, Belgium, France etc. to see what happens when you do not defend your nation.

[@bobantheighty6141]

The Bulgarians must follow both main lines in this fictional state named North Macedonia - the Human Rights Of The Macedonian Bulgarians there and the Assertion Of The Historical Truth until 1944 about the Bulgarian character of the population in the then Vardar Macedonia/Вардарска Македония. Everything else is wrong policies and an indulgence of foreign interests, which do not want unification of the Bulgarian Ethnic Group in the Balkans. PS: North-Macedonians are offshoots of the Bulgarian nation! Only the truth makes us FREE! 🗽☦️🦁🇧🇬

[@runjr032]

So Greece gets to financially fail twice and hold them up for 30years and get them to change their name ? But Bulgaria should just be cool . Like It got anything for being cool when recognizing the country before

[@effie21]

I don't get your point . All these years Greece had the dispute with North Macedonia, Bulgaria was hiding behind Greece and did not express any disagreement and left Greece to look like bad country that does not allow N. Macedonia to join NATO, EU etc. On the contrary, many times Bulgarian officials criticized Greece for her crazy demands. When Greece and N.M solved the problem , Bulgaria "remembered" that had some disputes with Northern Macedonia. You see this time there was no Greece to hide behind. I also dont understand what you are saying for Greece, because was under financial crisis not had the right to protect its national interests?

[@runjr032]

@@effie21 I don't get yours. Macedonia and Bulgaria have always had the despite about history textbooks and language as well as hate speak.So what you are saying about the 30 years is completely irrelevant. The disputes Bulgaria has with Macedonia have been there since we accepted the existence of their country. Just to use your own argument, what you are saying is just because Bulgaria didn't push it's own agenda during the disputes between Greece and Macedonia , it doesn't get to defend it's own national Interests now ? As to my point about Greece it was to say that a country that owes much more to the EU than Bulgaria does (like it's financial failure being compensated twice) did not budge from it's position for 30 years. Bulgaria has no reason to make compromises.

[@tatjanavelkova5814]

IN MAKEDONIJA EVERYTHING IS MACEDONIAN ! ! !

[@vlad.vasilev.94]

This was a great video of the outside perspective of the dispute, thank you James! Dispute that unfortunately will never be resolved fully. It's an integral part of being a bulgarian, to say that macedonians are bulgarians, and their language is a dialect. Just as is integral part of being a macedonian to say that bulgarians are tatars and so on. Sure, at some point Bulgaria will be pressured into submission by the western countries, but that is hardly a solution. It's actually going to alienate far more important member of the EU than the one who is gained!

[@JamesKerLindsay]

Thank you so much Vladimir. I really appreciate it. As you will have seen, I got a lot of abuse for this video. In fact, it is had the most comments of any video I have ever done! But it was incredibly useful to hear the views. It rather confirmed the sense that outside observers have that while Bulgarians are angry about the Macedonians, they can’t really say what the problem is. Really, it seemed that almost everyone told me what the problem was - and no two answers were the same. Some said I was wrong because Bulgaria accepts Macedonian identity. But then others said that it doesn’t. And that’s the problem. As I have said in a few other comments, it seems the country needs to have a national conversation on the issue. It is doing a lot of harm to Bulgaria’s reputation. But I also think the Macedonians have got to think about his they discuss these issues. As I said in the video, the museum in Skopje was a real eye-opener for me. It seemed to build the Macedonian nation on intense hatred for Greeks and Bulgarians. Not healthy. In any case, thank you so much again for the really thoughtful and helpful comment. I really appreciate it.

[@bobantheighty6141]

The History of Europe and the Balkans must be respected! No compromises can be made with history because it is as it is and all the facts of the past prove what kind of people lived in Macedonian Region and in what language they spoke and wrote! We must say it very clearly: North-Macedonians are offshoots of the Bulgarian nation and the so called Macedonian Language is a Serbianized Bulgarian dialect from the region of Macedonia! Tsar Samuel, Gotse Delchev, Dimitar Talev, Kliment Ohridski and the Miladinovi brothers are Bulgarian national heroes from the region of Macedonia, and not some "Macedonian" heroes of Communist Macedonia (F.Y.R.O.M) in Ex Yugoslavia of Tito, a lame and an artificial entity of the Communist International - The Comintern of Stalin! Until the North-Macedonians recognize their true origins, they have no place in the European Union, because without history there is no future! The denial of Bulgarian origin, and affiliation is a falsification of the objective truth and history and cannot be accepted into the European Family, where every member is friends and no one has entered at the expense of someone else's stolen history. And last but not least: Identity theft must be established as a crime between nations too, not only between individuals as it is now! For more information regarding the Macedonian Question, please, google yourself on the subject and you will fully understand the main issue between Bulgaria, the oldest state in Europe since 681, but after San Marino and North Macedonia, the second youngest state in Europe after Kosovo, founded in 1991. PS: God created them Bulgarians, Tito made them Macedonians. Freedom for the Bulgarians in North Macedonia! 🗽☦️🦁🇧🇬

[@bobantheighty6141]

The facts as they are... In North Macedonia people still tremble in anticipation before the December Council of the Member States of the European Union. North-Macedonians have an impression that Bulgaria will lift the Veto on this summit. At the same time, in Bulgaria, all Bulgarians are still waiting for the North-Macedonians to start behaving civilly and European and to leave behind the Serbo-Yugoslav way of thinking and primitive behavior! Of course, the Bulgarian Veto will continue until the democratic changes in North Macedonia really become a reality and we see real results such as the recognition of the objective historical truth as it is, not as it has been presented since the time of Yugoslavia. Official recognition of the authorities in Skopje for the repressions and genocide carried out systematically against the Bulgarian population - Macedonian Bulgarians, tens of thousands of them killed without trial and sentence during the rule of dictator Tito and decisions taken by the communist junta on ASNOM/АСНОМ in the former Yugoslavia and the Socialist Federal Republic of Macedonia after August 2, 1944. There is no official recognition of the Bulgarian ethnic group in the Republic of North Macedonia yet. The equal rights of Macedonian Bulgarians with all other ethnic groups specified in the constitution and living in the territory of the Republic of North Macedonia are still some utopia and chimera! North-Macedonians must return the bones of our big hero from Macedonian region Gotse Delchev/Гоце Делчев back to Bulgaria ASAP! The communist leader Georgi Dimitrov/Георги Димитров gave them to the dictator Tito under pressure and order of Stalin and the Comintern, and this great injustice to the Bulgarian nation must be restored immediately! Reminder: Hundreds Bulgarians cry by the roadside when, on Georgi Dimitrov's orders, the carriage with the remains of Gotse Delchev is transported from Sofia to Skopje in 1946. We also remind that there are no more repressed peoples than the Bulgarians and Albanians who fell within the borders of Serbia, and subsequently Yugoslavia after the decisions of the Berlin Congress to separate them from from relatives and homeland! PS: It is high time that the Bulgarians there should take their rightful leadership position, as the largest majority, together with the Albanians living in the youngest country in Europe and future candidate for the European Union. Freedom for the Bulgarians in North Macedonia! 🗽☦️🦁🇧🇬

[@Valeri-Mitev]

@@JamesKerLindsay thank you for your interest in our little dispute (little to outsiders, for us it's huge). Let me try to explain why it's important to us. Macedonians say they have ancient history and were never Bulgarian. From that perspective, any attempt by the Bulgarian state to incorporate these lands in early 20th century are (understandably) seen as occupation and understandably causes modern Macedonians to dislike or even hate Bulgaria. But what if the same people in late 19th and early 20th century actually wanted to join Bulgaria or at least identified as Bulgarian? The story goes completely upside down. It becomes not occupation but unification. From Bulgaria's perspective, the Slavic people that lived there were Bulgarian therefore the attempts to incorporate in the Bulgarian state the lands were justified on ethnic grounds. This is the reason why Bulgaria insists today that the people there WERE Bulgarian. It is widely accepted that for one reason or another, they no longer identify as Bulgarian. There is a misunderstanding on the Macedonian part that Bulgaria denies their right to self-determination NOW. There is a weird situation where Macedonians project their CURRENT identity backwards, while Bulgarians project HISTORIC identity forwards. However only fringe groups in Bulgaria claim that Macedonians now are Bulgarian, while mainstream view in Macedonia still harbours the claim that they never were Bulgarian. All the best

[@healingrays3762]

@@JamesKerLindsayfear is the root of the hatred towards Macedonians, and yes, like everywhere there are some extremists who have territorial claims. However, the majority of Macedonians are peaceful people who just want to be recognized for who they are and work together with the other Balkan nations on a brighter future for all.

[@ivanbangov43]

This fellow has missed mentioning that the European Union has a document on the Macedonian application, which consists of the Bulgarian position. This document was proposed by Macron and Macedonia has to fulfill the requirements written in this document.

[@joroplayer]

It wasn’t an issue for EU when Greece blocked NM or when Slovenia blocked Croatia for similar bilateral reasons. Bulgaria doesn’t want to force identity but to protect the people with Bulgarian consiuoness in Macedonia because they are harrassed as like they are still living in Tito’s regime. If EU “partners” don't care to look deeper in the issue when it's about its poorest member, we are better off without them.

[@victorandonov7249]

I am one of them that has a Bulgarian passport and I have never felt Bulgarian my grandfather was a soldier in the Bulgarian army and I was 20 years old when he died He has always told me that we are Macedonias and this is way I feel Macedonin like I tell my children now who have British passports they will always know they are Macedonias and they find it funny when I tell them that Bulgarians say we are Bulgarian Speak to people come to Ohrid see for your self who we are and what we are stop listening to propaganda I respect Bulgaria and its people but please let us be who we are

[@joroplayer]

@@victorandonov7249 Respect to your grandfather and may he rest in peace but consider that possibly he did it to protect you and give you future in Yugoslavia. My grand grandfather didn’t accept to be greek and escaped from the Aegean to Bulgaria and always told me that he is macedonian bulgarian. He would probably laugh if I told him that he is actually not.

[@sizif717]

@@victorandonov7249 What else should you granddad have told you if he cared about you and your future in Yugoslavia?

[@markojovanovski3372]

There are like 30 bulgarians in MK what are you talking about?

[@joroplayer]

@@markojovanovski3372 Even if there is 1, you don’t have the right to oppress him if you want to be european, my friend

[@chnb517]

Reading the comments, this is my view: What may seem inconsequential to you, might be important to others. It seems that the identity of their historical figures is way more important to Bulgarians than it is the case for westerners, hence the "incomprehensible" -ness of it to you. Being Mongolian myself, I can tell you that when some Turkish nationalists try to claim Genghis khan / Mongol empire in general as their own it really upsets some people here. Besides, if the people of Bulgaria do not want Macedonia to be in the EU while they are not acting in good faith toward Bulgarians, why shouldn't the Bulgarian government follow the will of its people? Anyway, I have no stake in this conflict so I don't really care whatever the outcome. However, it is interesting to think about the motives of each actor here.

[@Жар-птица.БГ]

To say that the conflict is about the identity of historical figures is a huge underestimation of the problem. North Macedonia basically claims about half Bulgarian history and teaches its people that Bulgarians are "a fascist tribe of a Tataro-Mongolian origin". That's not correct but it wouldn't be so offensive if they weren't so racist about it and tried to present us as a lesser kind of people. Even in KZbin comments they always behave so rude and write things like: go back to Mongolia and whatnot. If you are Mongolian, I wonder how you feel about it now, because if we are Tataro-Mongolian and lesser kind of people, you must be too. They also try to push their identity onto the people of Pirin Macedonia (the only part of Macedonia, which is still within Bulgaria). We have different folklore regions in Bulgaria (Thrace, Rhodopi mountains, etc) and the people in them identify as Thracians, Rhodopian, etc on a regional level and Bulgarian on a national. North Macedonia is a third of a folklore region that got brainwashed that their regional identity is their national identity but to forge that identity they need something to base it on. So what else could it be but Bulgarian history and hatred towards Bulgaria? And even if it was only about the identity of historical figures, cultural theft is never okay!

[@bobantheighty6141]

A few questions to all Europeans, who do not understand the essence of the problem between Bulgaria and North Macedonia: Many Bulgarians, mainly in the western part of Bulgaria, have relatives in North Macedonia. So, directly to the questions, dear Europeans: First: How can people from one family, some be Bulgarians, but their cousins for example, to ​​be "Macedonians"?!? Second: And following the logic of North Macedonia that Bulgarians and so called "Macedonians" have nothing in common, does it mean that the Austrians have not recognized their German roots, which I deeply doubt, or perhaps the Bavarians became a separate people from the Germans?!? Last: If history proves that these two countries had a common past before 1944, within the borders of the Bulgarian state, then who was this people?!? Hint: Bulgaria was founded 681AD. North Macedonia - September 8, 1991. Thank you in advance!

[@d3loff]

Yeah, recently I heard this claim that the Genghis Khan empire was Turkic in origin. For me this is just ridiculous. Mongol empire is Mongol and that's it, there is nothing more to discuss about it.

[@blava3155]

@@Жар-птица.БГ Aren't Bulgarians indeed a mix of Turkic and Slavic people? and if so, then I don't see the problem with that, Hungarians are of Hunnic origin and they're proud of it. everyone should be proud of their history.

[@Жар-птица.БГ]

@@blava3155 Bulgarians are a mix of Tracians, Slavic people and a bit of Turkic according to one theory not everyone agrees with. I do and I am proud of my ancestors. It's not about what we are. It's about the way they represent us like we are lesser kind of people. Technically we are the same but their propaganda teaches them they are something completely different and way better. For reference check out the movie "Macedonian Prayer". It basically sums up the essence of their propaganda and since there's no other way for them to explain why the rest of the world doesn't agree with their theories, this movie gives the ultimate conclusion - a worldwide conspiracy. But no worries, because God will come to Earth to make the whole world bow in front of the Macedonian nation. No, I'm not joking and yes, they are not just racist, they are nazi and none of that would have particularly concerned me if it wasn't all based on hatred towards Bulgaria.

[@Sebilion12]

Bulgaria should never let go! Well done Bulgaria! It is not about pride but about the truth and not allowing the falsification of history and facts! I wonder how would you feel if someone suddenly came to you and said that your whole national identity belongs to them, that you are copying them when clearly you existed for thousands of years before them... They are all just Bulgarians who got separated after the wars... That's all, there is nothing else to it! I feel very sorry for Bulgaria and Greece that they have to put up with this without any support from the West! If the West is allowing such lies and false allegations to have any grounds, then I don't know why the European Union even exist!

[@RU-Aussie]

Who are you to tell people who they are. This comes from the Nazi view due to the fact the Bulgar/Tatars fought with the Germans in WW1 and WW2. Nazi

[@77belts]

@@RU-Aussie the Nazis are people like you who are fyromians. U can't engage in debate can you. Bulgars don't exist and Tatars are in Russia. Macedonians are Bulgarian. You are Bulgarian so you must be a Tatar. Good. Embrace your new name Mr Tatar. Because if Bulgarians are Tatars then you are Tatar too because Macedonians are Bulgarian.

[@77belts]

@@RU-Aussie little kid can't handle the truth can he😂😂😂😂😂

[@Sebilion12]

@@RU-Aussie I can only assume your must be a child or teenager by the way you speak, but still I will attempt to help you understand some fundamental things, even though I know I'm wasting my time as brainwashed people are rarely open minded and open to the truth. But, here goes nothing! I won't even touch on your racist and nazi comments, no point in arguing with children! I'm sure Bulgaria has made plenty of mistakes in recent history, and they paid with losing a lot of land! I'm sure the same happened with Turkey, Greece, Germany and many other countries! What happened in the world wars was horrible and everyone acted like animals! This is a fact that no one can dispute! But, the world wars are beside the point of the discussion and firing accusations here and there only shows your intellectual level. You say that I am telling other who they should be... And then you go and call a whole country with various different races living in it (Slavs, thracians, romani, Bulgars, Tatars and many others) from which Bulgars and Tatars that are both just minorities who emigrated and assimilated into Bulgaria and are not really related to most ethnic Bulgarians who are mainly either slavs or thracians ... Before labeling people and countries as something they are not (just like you people have done to your poor country), please educate your self and learn the actual history of the nations around you and not just the lies your schools teach you! And it is people like you who are forcing Bulgaria and Greece to be sceptical with having countries like yours enter the European Union! Or do you think that they have nothing better to do with their lives and just say, hey what should we do today? Let's veto Northern Macedonia from entering the EU! Seriously? Grow up! Unless you can start acting like adults and accept historical facts for what they are, don't expect anyone to take you seriously!!

[@tatjanavelkova5814]

@@RU-Aussie EVERY GOOD ! ! ! Tatjana from MAKEDONIJA

[@monarchistheadcrab8819]

Unpopular solution: unite the two countries, both will profit from this.

[@wakeno.6047]

That would be the best thing, 50% Bulgaria, 35% Albania, 15% Greece. But, that impossible without war right now.

[@debnadaebna9981]

@@wakeno.6047 Greece 0%, they have no right.

[@georgedevries3992]

@@wakeno.6047 Oh goodie. Don't worry pal. After Greece will be done with that bully Turkey, it's sights will be set (completely) to it's northern borders... if you provoke them that is! Ah war. Such a bloody, awful yet wonderful thing that leads to death, misery and sorrow. But it DOES serve certain purposes.

[@georgedevries3992]

@@debnadaebna9981 How about 98%? :) The other 2 can have 1% each. Ik ik, it's not fair but hey... :D

[@DEAckern]

I guess that’s what are Greece and Bulgaria afraid of. If Macedonia 🇲🇰 becomes a member of the EU 🇪🇺 (consequently also a part of the Schengen area and Eurozone) the Macedonians living in Macedonia, Greece and Bulgaria would de facto unite. Macedonians do not need a separate state but no borders would help us to improve our culture and improve our lives economically. That’s why Bulgarians doesn’t want us to be Macedonians. As soon as the problem with Bulgaria is solved, new problem would emerge with Greece, until Macedonians become something else, like North Macedonians, Bulgars etc. I would be happy to have you as my guest here in Bitola, Macedonia and I would bring you to the North of Greece and the West of Bulgaria. You would see and hear what do people living there are calling them and what language they speak. You do not need any further research. The Albanians living in Albania, Montenegro, Kosovo, Macedonia and Greece would unite only in the EU, but the nationalists are afraid of the truth. I call my county Macedonia because of the bullying that we get for joining the EU. When my country becomes a fully EU member I would call my country North Macedonia.

[@kaloyanrosenov2123]

As a bulgarian i will say that this video is phropaganda because , here are the real facts , 1.We recognise the macedonians as macedonians and we know that is their own right to say who they are, if they want they could be romans , macedonians , greeks , chinese or what they want ! We only want them to obey that they origin as a nation from Bulgaria and that their lauguage is a form of bulgarian dialekt , because the ansectors of the modern macedonians before 1945 recognise themselvs as bulgarians , and its not in the right of the modern macedonians to say how the people there describe themselvs before 1945 because its the right of the people before 1945 to say who they are and they sayed it allready ! 2. In this video this guy did not mentioned that for the bulgarian resurection from the Ottoman empire there was a war between the Ottoman and Russian empire and by the San Stefano treaty Bulgaria was restored , not because of the Berlin treaty that made Bulgaria a little state , but from the San Stefano treaty between the Ottoman and Russian empire and by this treaty Macedonia was recognized as bulgarian and was given to Bulgaria also like other territories , in Bulgaria as an national day is 3 marth when was signed the piece at San Stefano and we hate the second Berlin one that destroy Bulgaria and make her on two parts Knyazestvo Bulgaria and eastern Rumelia who was not parth of the Ottoman empire as here it is showed on the map , but was a second bulgarian state !

[@kaloyanrosenov2123]

@Kv N2O karai da varvi

[@isaks7042]

If Austria decided to call its language Austrian instead of German do you really think Germany would do anything about it?

[@JamesKerLindsay]

No. They’d think it was strange. Stupid. Illogical, even. And they’d be right. But they would ‘do’ anything about it. Likewise, if the United States decided to rename its official language American (as some people do), most people would think it was silly, but Britain would hardly try to impose sanctions over the matter. And look all around the Balkans. Thirty years ago lost people spoke Serbia-Croat. Today it is Serbian, Croatian, Bosnian and Montenegrin. It’s silly. They are still essentially a single language. But everyone accepts it and rather than offend each other tend to refer to it as ‘naš jezik’ when talking to each other.

[@babatigosho6214]

@@JamesKerLindsay The first time you said something right...calling them Serbian,Bosnian and Montenegrin is silly as fuск,i always cringe when i hear that

[@SoozBeez]

@@JamesKerLindsay This is something that, to me as an American with no skin in the Bulgarian/Macedonian argument is slightly amusing. After all, it's usually Britons telling us Americans that we speak a different language! It just seems so petty and ludicrous for Bulgaria to be going to these lengths over what North Macedonians call the language that they speak.

[@janeza382]

Pfff Serbians Bulgarians Albanians and Greeks may have one language it will be called Macedonian.

[@janeza382]

@@SoozBeez No English is Germanic language. Macedonian is greko-salvic Christian Sanscrit Indo European as Germanic. Vocabulary is Slavic or universal syntax is older or not slavic but Christian or universal Indo European spoken by current Macedonians. Whatever "Word was God and God was whit word existed in beginning whit God" „Во почетокот беше Зборот,И Зборот беше во Бога,И Бог беше Збор“

[@Arhiroukounas]

when the Balkan Wars happened almost nobody selfidentified as ''Macedonian'',it was after the 20's that some Komitern propagandists started circulating the idea of a separate Macedonian nation-for what ever reason they thought this was a good idea for Soviet interests- and after WW2 when Tito became dictator of Yugoslavia,he created a separate Macedonian republic as a tool for territorial expansion against Northern Greece,a big part of Bulgaria and a small chunk of Albania. To promote this expansionist policy,the Yugoslav regime also created a standarized ''Macedonian language'' and,more importantnly,a bizzare ''Macedonian'' pseudohistory which supposedly started with Alexander the Great,included Byzantine Emperors and Bulgarian Tsars or 20th century Bulgarian revolutionaries. This is the root cause of the disputes with Greece and Bulgaria.It's not a case of two larger countries bulling a smaller one as many self proclaimed Balkan politics experts suggest. Mr Ker-Lindsay has a very shallow view on the issue and he can keep the virtue-signalling for himeself.

[@tatjanavelkova5814]

MACEDONIANS ARE MACEDONIANS ! ! ! @ you .... "fish".

[@viktormarinov5688]

James, you lie* at 11:49. Bulgaria definitely does accept a distinct Macedonian national identity. Does N. Macedonia accept the national identity of Bulgaria's national heroes from 19. & 20. century? *of course this is just an opinion - mine and everyone else's, who is familiar with the official Bulgarian position.

[@JamesKerLindsay]

Please edit your comment or I will delete it. I am not lying. And I don't accept accusations of lying. I express a view. You disagree. Accusing me of deliberately distorting the truth goes beyond reasonable behaviour. I am more than prepared to have discussions but not on these terms. There is a legitimate question here. And if you read through the comments, you will see that many Bulgarians here certainly do not accept a distinct Macedonian national identity. That is the whole problem. It is not that outsiders don't understand the problem. It is that Bulgaria doesn't really know what it wants.

[@viktormarinov5688]

Officially Bulgaria recognises the Macedonian nation. The previous foreign minister and the current president both have officially stated that Bulgaria or any other state is in the no position to deny the national identity of Macedonians.

[@viktormarinov5688]

@@JamesKerLindsay ​ What you say at 11:49 is simply not true and leads people to draw incorrect conclusions about Bulgaria's position! I would be happy to have a discussion about it, but I can not accept a false statement like this and a completely single-sided presentation of the issue. If you want to know what Bulgaria wants, then check the corresponding documents. E.g. the Treaty of friendship, or the Framework position on EU accession of N Macedonia. To sum it up, this is the Bulgarian position in (very) short: Bulgaria expects Macedonia to recognize the past, just as Bulgaria recognize the current state of things. If that is done, then all else will fall into place. "It is not true, that we deny Macedonian identity. This is a lie. We have said this many times and your (Macedonian) politicians know it. It is easier to present it in front of the Macedonian society and European politicians, that we deny your identity." Quoting former foreign minister Ekaterina Zaharieva from her interview with Macedonian media zoom.mk. "Bulgaria does not deny the identity of North Macedonia, but N.Macedonia should fulfill its part of the treaty." Another quote from Zaharieva, I just stumbled upon.

[@makedon888]

@@JamesKerLindsay Sir, as one Macedonian writer and teatre director who died in London recently once wrote: "East has writen us off, west is not signing us in", Macedonian question is difficult one.. Greetings from Macedonia

[@viktormarinov5688]

@@makedon888 Dear skysailorm, It seems like you are blaming external factors, while internally the Macedonian society is not very clear where it stands. I still find it very disturbing, when I walk into the office of some young and educated Macedonian specialist and see the picture of Marshal Tito on the wall. I don't think there has been enough critical analysis by the Macedonian society of the last 75 years of their own history. It is a difficult and painful process, but it is more than necessary in order to move forward, not east or west. I know that in Bulgaria we still have a lot of critical thinking to do about our own communist past (even if ours was not so complicated as yours), but the new generations have a much better understanding of the past era.

[@lariking8428]

Доста неточен и повърхностен анализ с чисти лъжи и манипулации .

[@Ecoman365]

Greetings to all TRUTH--LOVERS from an American descendant of ETHNIC BULGARIANS from the county of Thessaloniki in Aegean Macedonia!

[@duruarute5445]

another american that thinks because his great great grandfather came from europe he is european or understands anything about europe

[@milandimovski5279]

were you bulgarian because the greeks named you like that?????

[@historybeast4116]

@@milandimovski5279 no because there were only Bulgarian towns and villages, only Thessaloniki was a mixture of all Balkan nationalities plus a greater Jewish population!

[@dimitriosvlissides5781]

@@historybeast4116 there were many greek villages in the country side that had been destroyed by bulgarian nationalist

[@billytdakid]

Glad to see a descendant of a proud ethnic Bulgarian from Macedonia. Greetings from Bulgaria.

[@DEAckern]

8:44 You should have told here that the tomb of Goce Delchev was moved from Sofia to Skopje because his only wish was to rest in independent state of Macedonia.

[@Voyvoda1903]

It should also be noted that Goce Delchev referred to himself and the majority of the people in Macedonia as Bulgarians. Let’s get serious about our history and let’s stop trying to use useless magic tricks to create an identity that did not come to fruition until after the 20th century.

[@tatjanavelkova5814]

1872 GOCE DELC'EV RODEN vo Kukus' ---- MAKEDONIJA. GOCE DELC'EV E MAKEDONEC i MAKEDONSKI REVOLUCIONER ! ! !

[@viktorg9633]

James, this is my last comment on this lets say interesting comment section. I read some of the comments and your responses. It seems what bothers you the most is that Bulgaria is using its right to put veto on negotiation framework on N.Macedonia. For sure it is not nice and it is not satisfying also for Bulgaria, but lets be honest it is not the first time its done. I see it as an act of desperation from Bulgaria for not being able to clear the hot topics together with North Macedonia for the last 30 years. Most of these years were marked from Gruevski government, who put the history and antiquization in the center of his policy. That put much fuel in the disputes with Greece and Bulgaria. City center in Skopje was turned into Historical Disneyland for example. With Zaev things looked promising at the beginning. Conversation was positive with though of the future. Contracts were signed with Greece and Bulgaria. North Macedonia was accepted in NATO. For 3 years nothing was done to execute the BG/NMK contract no matter all the warnings from Bulgaria. In physics always some driving force is needed in order for things to move. Macedonians were stalling and Bulgarians put thd brake. For 3 years nothig was done - no infrastructure, no results in history commission, obstacles for business and investment, blossoming anti-bulgarian rhetoric. Let me know why should Bulgaria say Yes, put its signature and remove the veto for so hostile country toward itself ? For the common good?! You say that we are destabilising the Balkans!? Serbia is the most destabilising factor in the West Balkan. Or the Russian and Chinese influence everyone mentions. China is giving credits that no-one takes these days. There is a saying about he Chinese investments in the Balkans - Everyone is talking about them, but none has ever seen them. Or Russia, they are not even ablle to finance their close Serbian friends properly. Havent heard of Russian funds or cohesion policy or whatever. So lets leave the influence mantra for a moment and give the time and support the dispute between Bulgaria and Macedonia to be resolved. North Macedonia cannot escape the honest conversation about the past. Language and nation were considered different and preliminary bulgarian at the time. Many thousand proofs are available. This is recent history. Many atrocities were done to bulgarians due to conversion policies from communist regime. Many wars were lost for the bulgarians to be united. However todays people consider themselves differently and are calling the language differently in Republic of North Macedonia. We need to differentiate the present and past and to acknowledge them both the way they are. The EU should help to close those wounds once and for all and not to bring them inside where they will burn for years to come.

[@debnadaebna9981]

EU is NOT a place for disputes like that. They also officially said it. This is a problem between 3 counties - Bulgaria, North Macedonia and Serbia. The last too need to declassify their communist archive and publicly show it like Bulgaria did it since 1989! Today Serbian organizations are working in North Macedonia, they are actually the ones deviding Bulgaria and North Macedonia. VMRO-DPMNE is serbian party in North Macedonia and many more like that. The historical commission was controlled by those Serbian agents from the North Macedonia's side. Bulgarian officials even publicly said that...

[@tisho91]

Very well said!

[@markdowns9607]

@@debnadaebna9981 The EU is not a place for anything really...thats why the UK left and others will eventually follow !

[@d3loff]

James, after watching the video and reading many of the comments and replies I'm now fully convinced that you really do not understand the Balkans. I have no intention of explaining here in a simple comment what the reality is, but I will just hint you that your perception of this region is too naive, may be childish even.

[@JamesKerLindsay]

Seriously, I’m really not new to this. I’ve spent years working on the region. I’ve published extensively on the Balkans and SE Europe (look at my profile). The problem here is not that I don’t understand this issue. It’s that the Bulgarians have no clear idea exactly what the issue is, or what they want. If you had read the comments as carefully as you said, you’d have seen that fir every Bulgarian comment there is a different Bulgarian view. Some think it is about the language, some say it isn’t. Some say there is only one nation, others say there’s two. And the fact that the rest of the international community says it doesn’t understand it says a lot. Presumably EVERYONE is stupid and naive!? Seriously, I am not new to conflict. I have spent years studying ones far more complex than this. And you seem to have missed the point of the video. It’s not about who is right and wrong. I see both sides of the argument, it is about the way that Bulgaria is weaponising its EU membership to get its own way - whatever its own way might mean!

[@lagjescuni5482]

@@JamesKerLindsay if you know how to make the historical difference between the territory of current Albania and the history of the Albanian people then I can say that you know the Balkans...I have a question to ask if Greece according to Europeans has the right to take strong actions and to block the way to the west of a specific country just for a name..why albania does not have the same historical rights towards the greeks when everyone knows that the heroes warriors commanders ect of the so-called the greek revolution of 1821 were almost all Albanians with the exception of a few vlachs..their adversaries were also Albanians because it was practically a religious civil war between the Orthodox Albanians of Greece and the Muslim Albanians of Egypt...Arvanites against Mehmet Ali pasha of egypt ..and Suliotes against Ali pasha of ionannina all of them were Albanians

[@lagjescuni5482]

@@JamesKerLindsay and then the Albanians of Dardania and paeonia ( the present north macedonia) they lived in those lands even before king bardhyl shkupi ( skopje)was the capital of Dardania..therefore the Albanians living in that country have lived there since ancient times..before the romans ..slavs ..ottomans ect ect

[@d3loff]

@@JamesKerLindsay Well, this is normal for different people to have different views and opinions on the matter. And NO, of course not everyone is stupid or naive I never said that. Whole Balkan region has a mind of its own and this includes not complying with anyone. It never does, it never will. And this comes from the mentality, arrogance and violent lust for power and wealth. Balkan countries have allies, but they are ally to no one if you know what I mean. Some of them were empires of their own, later part of such, but it was all a facade, always. This is why I said that you look too naive upon it and that's why you are surprised that Bulgaria is using aggressively its EU membership - but of course it will, hah, when someone is so meak to allow it.

[@ЈанеСандански-л1и]

@@JamesKerLindsay It's ridicolous what Bulgaria is doing, trying to convince the world that you can be grandafther of your father...that is what Bulgars are trying to present the world. Macedonians are noted 17 centuries in the Balkan history before the forst Bulgar horse ever apoeared in the Balkan. They arrived in 7th century and Macedonian Slavs in 5th century. Slavs got mixed with the Ancient Macedonians without any fight or battle while the Bulgars remained Pagans till 9th century when Macedonian schoolar of Thesalonika (city that was never part of any Bulgarian kingdom ever) st.Cyril and Metodi baptized and teach them the slavic alohabet and language....how on earth someone can play the whole EU with such stupid and cheap propaganda. Not that EU should pressure Bulgaria but they should iick her out of the EU for misinteretting the history and acting like fascists in the year of 2021. Shame on EU for toleratimg such bullyies as the Bulgars!

[@exylera]

When the austrians say they speak austrian language, the US citizens say they speak american language, the brasilians say they speak brasilian language, then the (North) macedonians can say they speak macedonian language.

[@petergriffinmk2884]

You do realize Macedonian is not that mutually intelligible with Bulgarian right? Even Croatian and Serbian are way more mutually intelligible, yet they are 2 distinct languages and 2 distinct nations with 2 distinct histories. Bulgarian and Macedonian are not nearly as close as these languages are to each other, yet Bulgarians still lay claim on everything Macedonian. Its beyond baffling that we have to deal with nationalism like this in the 21st century.

[@JamesKerLindsay]

This is actually an interesting point and I wanted to go into this in more detail. It is fascinating how the name of languages does seem to play such an important role in different cases. You are right, Americans seem happy to refer to English, and Austrians to German, but Macedonians can't refer to Bulgarian. By the way, my unpopular view is that we/they should never have stopped using the term Serbo-Croat for the languages of Serbia, Bosnia, Croatia and Montenegro.

[@mikebeast8582]

@@JamesKerLindsay Macedonian and Bulgarian is as close as Spanish and Portuguese and Swedish and Norwegian..very close but all of em are their own language

[@zhenen]

@@petergriffinmk2884 Skopiean Macedonian is a dialect which is far away from the Aegean Macedonian. The language construction was made in Belgrade, not in Ohrid, or Bitola - the historical centres of the region Macedonia. In the first years the people in Strumica were unable to understand what Radio Skopje was broadcasting in the new language. Further more the Skopje region was neve part of the historical Macedonia and I can't understand their claims to be true Macedonians. In fact they have cried in the class rooms with pleasure between 1913-1944 "We are true Serbs".

[@vasil.kamdzhalov]

@@petergriffinmk2884 What do you mean I can watch and understand macedonian on your media or in interviews, you just say it for the 100% denial. And I am from the most east side of Bulgaria.

[@peteriliev4501]

You sound very much as a defense lawyer for North Macedonia who most likely has been paid to do a cheep misrepresentation in International Law case. Hope you looked at how people replied to your story.

[@cheraldon]

While the video is aimed at a wider audience - it misses out on a couple critical aspects. Firstly, there is no dispute between the parties in question on the current Macedonian national identity or the Macedonian language as the official language of the Republic of North Macedonia. Secondly, the problem lies in the historical facts from the past. In the last 70 years, Macedonian historians and scientists have portrayed and claimed a large number of Bulgarian-born key figures and activists from the 19th and 20th century as ethnic Macedonians. In an attempt to prove an unbroken lineage to a Macedonian ethnic entity going back to medieval times, the official Macedonian history has falsely altered the national character of tsar Samuil's Bulgarian state to a Macedonian one. Additionally, in the past years there has been a new wave of anti-Bulgarian rhetoric and sentiments, orchestrated by the media and the ruling party in North Macedonia. To summarize all of the above - the issue between Bulgaria and North Macedonia is a replica of the Macedonian question albeit in a new light and a modern-day political setting , which makes this problem a lot more intricate than it seems to the naked eye of the European community.

[@JamesKerLindsay]

Thank you Boris. I can see your points. And I certainly don’t hide the fact that Macedonians have promoted anti-Bulgarian sentiment. But I think it is important to also recognise that what is presented as a ‘mere’ dispute over historical figures, actually runs far deeper than that. It is actually about identity. It is saying to the Macedonians that they can call themselves what they like now, but as their national heroes are Bulgarians they too are really Bulgarians. It is more subtle that the approach taken in the past of denying Macedonian identity. But the effect is essentially the same. And the fact that this line is being pushed through by using EU accession is what makes Bulgaria look really bad. No one would really care otherwise. The sad fact is that the government’s wish to pander to nationalism is actually harming Bulgaria’s wider standing. In any case, thanks again for the really useful comments. I appreciate it enormously - especially given some of the other views expressed here!

[@cheraldon]

@@JamesKerLindsay your response is appreciated, while I partially agree with what you said, It is overwhelmingly unacceptable and illogical that a true fact such as the Bulgarian descent of the Macedono-bulgarian national heroes be used as a case for pointing the finger at Bulgaria, merely because it is a historical fact and facts should not be altered so as to serve any political purposes. Both countries should co-operate to find a middle ground in a way that doesn't compromise the national interests of each state and the historical factsheet of the Balkans. While it is easier said than done - I still believe we are long way from solving the issue as there are certain political factors at play which exacerbate the ongoing problem.

[@nikolaytsankov9066]

@@JamesKerLindsay I'm afraid I don't see the connection between acknowledging the historical facts that the national heroes celebreted in North Macedonia today identified themselves as ethnically Bulgarian (and regionally Macedonian, for all that's worth) and denying soneone's identity. How is history pandering to nationalism? Did the founding fathers of America not ethnically identify as British? Did the early Austrian and Swiss rulers not identify as ethnically German?

[@petremitrov]

@@JamesKerLindsay No, no James they have changed their identity. Their grandfathers were Bulgarians but today most of these people are not. Their identity was changed forcefully in Yugoslavia in order to separate them from Bulgaria and Bulgarians. Now these who did this crime (forceful change of identity and who exterminated Bulgarians in Macedonia or convert them) want the world to say that they are innocent or to say that this physical, cultural and ethnic genocide over Bulgarians there never happened. However there are still many Bulgarians who lived in fear there. 100, 000 has taken Bulgarian passports due to their forefathers were Bulgarians. Bulgaria helped them to live normal live and work in Europe. What the North Macedonians politicians say about it? They still spit on Bulgaria. Why did not mention it in your video?

[@janeza382]

@@JamesKerLindsay contrary over past 70 years Bulgaria and Greece assimilated macedonians trough education and nationalistic indoctrination.

[@tupsum]

BTW for our Macedonian friends: Here is the list of the real Macedonian medieval kings: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macedonian_dynasty

[@milanfenriz4497]

The Byzantine Empire does not exist ... the Eastern Roman Empire only...this is all fake you show to "dear " Makedonian friends

[@dimitriosvlissides5781]

@@milanfenriz4497 What ever you are going to call Eastern Roman Empire or the byzantine empire ,coined by the West,its the same I cannot understand why you say that the macedonian dynasty is fake ?

[@milanfenriz4497]

@@dimitriosvlissides5781 yes, because capital sity of emperor Dušan silni was Skoplje in 14 century...today Makedonian people and Serbian are same nation , divide by borders ..

[@dimitriosvlissides5781]

@@milanfenriz4497 but you speak serbian and they speak bulgarian and albanian Dusan was there on 14th century The Makedonian Dynasty was from 8th century to 12 th century where is the fake

[@milanfenriz4497]

@@dimitriosvlissides5781 you really think that Makedonian Nation exist ?do you know that most of Balkan Nations are made from name of region...after coming of communist 1945...l work in Czech republic with people from Makedonia,they are serbs..like Montenegro people..my roots are from Montenegro,it's not my nation,it's region where l am from ...Bosnia it's not nationality..it's region..politica made it...like now they want Kosovo... Makedonia is oldest Serbian region with Kosovo and today north Albania ...

[@deyanivanov3471]

Уважаеми професоре, тази история започва много преди падането на Османската империя, но изненадващата изненада началото някак липсва във вашите изследвания. Очевидно резултатът от битката при Дойран през 1918 г. все още боли, нали? Честно казано, не очаквам много задълбочаване в историята от наследник на колонизатори, убийци и собственици на роби.

[@huskytail]

🤣 те дори не са чували за това, както повечето българи не са за атаката над България от Русия в Добруджа и битките там през ПСВ. Не всички имат твоя манталитет да търсиш измислени причини за недостатъчни детайли в едно просто Ютуб видео 😋

[@tatjanavelkova5814]

@@huskytail vo MAKEDONIJA LUGJE ! ! ! dori ? u tvoj bazen.

[@airforcebg]

Dear James, your review is short-sighted. Please cover the history before the Ottoman empire as well and try to find evidence of the existence of the nations in the archives. A short visit to Vatican City will help you even by looking at the maps that are on public display. Enjoy.

[@IvanIvanov-ky4nz]

Why did you skip map right after 1st Balkan war? This is some serious history ignorance...

[@JamesKerLindsay]

Not sure what difference it would have made.

[@IvanIvanov-ky4nz]

@@JamesKerLindsay the difference being Bulgaria took most land grom 1st balkan war and should have at least arranged population exchange -> Bulgarians from other parts of Macedonia to go into the new (then current) territories of Bulgaria. That way it wouldn't happen a 2nd Balkan war, maybe.

[@tatjanavelkova5814]

blgari ukradoa Pirinska Makedonija. dogovor 1913 : Blgaria na MAKEDONIJA vrak'a Pirinska Makedonija ! ! !

[@iddi2278]

My grand fathers come from present day N. Macedonia. We are BULGARIANS! Most of the people in N. Macedonia are Bulgarians! Nothing can change the past! Whoever tried it, lied to himself and suffered the consequences with no exception. We love the people in N. Macedonia and know they are our brothers and sisters, but their politicians manipulate them into hating Bulgaria. However, history can not be deleted or changed! And it will finally prevail.

[@bobantheighty6141]

The facts as they are... In the first days after October 14, 1912, in the captured by the Serbs of the Bulgarian city of Skopje, persecutions began against the local Bulgarians and Turks - some were thrown into Vardar river/Вардар, others were beaten to death. But a ridiculous, cruel and very nasty act of the Serbian Prince will anger Bulgaria and the Bulgarians then! On the Stone Bridge/Каменния мост in Skopje, Alexander Karadjordjevic was greeted by a group of children lined up by the Skopje administration to honor him with flowers. Among these children is the little, only seven-year-old Vaska Zoycheva. The small and fragile hands hand the bouquet to the prince, who, looking at the frightened children's eyes, asks contemptuously: - So what are you?/Па ща си ти? With fear and a constricted heart, a little girl replied: - Bulgarian!/Българка! The heir to the throne of Serbia waved his hand and his heavy slap landed on the little girl's cheek. Rumors of the "male" act of the Serbian prince quickly spread throughout the Bulgarian city of Skopje. Unfortunately, the incident is only a harbinger of the terrible string of events that marked the Serbian rule in these Bulgarian lands. Dimche Arsov/Димчев Арсов from Skopje was beaten because he greeted his relatives in his native Bulgarian language while sending them to the station. Another person was killed only because in a conversation with a close person he shared loudly, "I better die, but I do not become a Serb." Toma Topolov/Toma Topalov was beaten because he was late to change the inscription of his company to Serbian. Stojan Matkalija/Стоян Маткалия was tortured and beaten to death for not being kind enough to his Serbian customers in his shop and inn. In March 1913 he was expelled by force from his house. The Bulgarian clergyman Archimandrite Methodi Dimov/ Aрхимандрит Методий Димов, head of the Bulgarian priestly school in Skopje, was also brutally beaten by the Serbian gendarmerie, but he managed to save his life by hiding in the French consulate in Skopje. There are thousands of examples, so expect more details about the genocide of Bulgarians in Vardar Macedonia/Вардарска Македония. PS: In memory of Vaska Zoycheva/Васка Зойчева and thousands of other Macedonian Bulgarians from Skopje, persecuted, beaten, and killed without trial and sentence by the Serbian occupiers, leaded by the Serbian heir to the throne, Alexander Karadjordjevic/Александър Караджорджевич, also known as Alexander I of Yugoslavia. We will not forget, we will not forgive! Bulgaria, for you they died, mother, for justice and FREEDOM! 🗽☦️🦁🇧🇬

[@bobantheighty6141]

"When a person from Macedonia lives in Bulgaria longer, he/she realizes that in fact the mood towards us is very friendly and cordial in Bulgaria. All Bulgarians accept us as their own! Everything here reminds me of my home. And the old houses in Nessebar and Sozopol have the same architecture as those in Ohrid with their old and so revival style. The difference between us is only in the mentality of some people from Macedonia, who have been still stuck somewhere in the times of Yugoslavia and living with the notions of the Bulgarians as some Tatars, Fascists and Occupiers." These are the thoughts of the construction entrepreneur Miroslav Traichevski/Мирослав Трайчевски from Kriva Palanka, who has lived in Sofia for 13 years and is developing his successful business there. God bless all Bulgarians in the motherland and North Macedonia! 🗽☦️🦁🇧🇬

[@bobantheighty6141]

Let's shed some light on the subject... Lyubcho Neshkov is a Macedonian Bulgarian and also a prominent Bulgarian journalist, born in Skopje in 1964 and escaped from the Yugoslav regime in the then Socialist Federal Republic of Macedonia. In 1977 his father Temelko Neshkov with his daughter Slavitsa emigrated to Belgium and a year later his wife and son Lyubcho joined them. In 1985 the family settled in Bulgaria forever. At present days, Lyubcho Neshkov is the owner of the Bulgarian news agency BGNESS. In an interview for the Bulgarian private channel BULGARIA OnAir he says: Neither today nor in the future will North Macedonia have a greater ally and friend than Bulgaria, but as long as the dark forces of the former Yugoslavia and the Secret Services of the UDBA operate in this country, this cannot happen! Link: kzbin.info/www/bejne/nqaydn6larutebc FREEDOM FOR BULGARIANS IN NORTH MACEDONIA! 👑 🗽☦️🦁🇧🇬

[@tatjanavelkova5814]

@@bobantheighty6141............ jadi zeleno. i plavo. y kenjef.