‘Like I Don’t Belong’: Balkan Neighbours’ Identity Dispute Casts Long Shadow

On March 1, Bulgarian President Rumen Radev voiced his "deep concern" about the treatment of ethnic Bulgarians in North Macedonia, speculating that during the census they will come under pressure not to declare their true national identity.

It would be the kind of tactic Macedonians in Bulgaria have been complaining of for decades, accusing authorities in Sofia of waging a programme of discrimination and assimilation that has seen their official number dwindle.

BIRN has spoken to those affected on both sides of the border, who say that, rather than be used as a bridge to overcome disputes, they have come to be seen as 'fifth columnists', viewed with suspicion and widely discriminated against.

"I have never been very outspoken about my Bulgarian identity, never argued with people about history or tried to impose my opinions as I'm not much of a history buff," said Slaven.

"If anything, I like to think about the present and the future, not to go back. And yet, old prejudices and history have played a far bigger role in my life than I would have liked."

While the upcoming census has focused attention on Bulgarians in North Macedonia, on the other side of the border those in Bulgaria who identify as Macedonians say they have long been forgotten, despite waging a decades-long fight for recognition.

Statue of Goce Delcev in central Skopje. Photo: Wikimedia Commons/Dalco26

History, language and identity in dispute

The core of the problem lies in Bulgaria's insistence that Macedonians are in fact of Bulgarian origin and that the language they speak is essentially a dialect of Bulgarian.

According to this theory, the 'Macedonian' identity was imposed in the wake of World War Two by Josip...