The Presidents of Macedonia and Bulgaria, Stevo Pendarovski and Rumen Radev, will travel together to the celebration of Ss. Cyril and Methodius in Rome on May 24th. Bulgaria insists on joint honoring of the medieval saints who spread Christianity through the Slavic world, and whose “ownership” is one of the divisive issues between the two countries.

According to the agreement, Radev will fly from Sofia to Skopje, and pick up Pendarovski in his plane, then continue to Rome where St. Cyril is buried. They will visit the saint’s grave jointly, but will have separate audiences with Pope Francis. The trip will include a small group of Macedonian and Bulgarian journalists. The delegation of the Macedonian Orthodox Chuch will be led by Bishop Pimen.

Macedonia and Bulgaria are locked in a growing dispute over national identity and history, and as result Bulgaria is currently blocking the opening of EU accession talks for Macedonia. Bulgaria wants Macedonia to acknowledge the “Bulgarian origin” of its nation and language, and to sign off historic figures such as the sainted brothers, declaring them as Bulgarians.