“I was sure that despite the serious problems and fundamental differences, we are one joint commission but after today’s 14^th successive meeting I am beginning to wonder whether that is so,” Prof. Angel Dimitrov co-chairman of the Joint Bulgaria-North Macedonia Multidisciplinary Expert Commission on historical and educational issues stated at a briefing after the meeting was over.

He pointed out that the North Macedonia side had categorically refused to hold concrete discussions on concrete historical issues. Instead, they had proposed a general theoretical multi-perspective framework fetishizing everyone’s right to an interpretation of their own of any given historical event. “You understand that such an approach manifests an unwillingness to change anything whatsoever in the interpretation of the past in the historiography of our neighbour,” Prof. Dimitrov said.

The next, 15^th meeting of the commission is scheduled for mid-October.