The celebration of August 2, Republic Day in Macedonia, brought dissonant reactions from Sofia, against the “French proposal”, which is supposed to calm passions. What is more important, the differences are also noticeable in the contents of the congratulations of the official institutions, although an attempt is made in the media for a certain “tailoring” mainly in the headlines, but also in the reactions of individuals from the Bulgarian political elite, analyzes “Pressing”.

Overall, the content of the greetings and the reactions range from congratulation messages on the national holiday, through the use of the purely Bulgarian phrasing for the Ilinden–Preobrazhenie Uprising, to threats of consequences from the EU, especially for the performance of President Stevo Pendarovski.

In the congratulation message of the Bulgarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs via Twitter, which our Ministry also boasted about, the Republic Day is referred to as a national holiday.

Sincere congratulations to the Republic of North Macedonia and its citizens on the occasion of their national holiday – August 2. We are confident that in the future we will continue with good will and political courage to work for the development of good neighborly relations, reads the congratulation message.

In the message of Bulgarian President Rumen Radev to his counterpart Stevo Pendarovski, there is a completely different phrasing.

The observation of the Ilinden–Preobrazhenie Uprising in 1903 occupies an important place in our common history and is only one of the examples of the rich cultural and historical heritage that closely connects our two states and their citizens.

In the press release from Radev’s office, it is also indicated that the common history of Macedonia and Bulgaria should be turned into a real factor for rapprochement between the two countries and that statesmen from both sides should contribute to this.

However, our media emphasize only Ilinden in their headlines, and not the term Ilinden–Preobrazhenie Uprising.

Bulgarian MEP Andrey Kovatchev reacted on Facebook over the speech of Macedonia’s President Stevo Pendarovski and defined it as a blatant example of “reckless trampling on the agreement with the protocols to it and the negotiating framework”. Kovatchev added that this behavior will not remain without consequences for Macedonia.

It is the similar with individual reactions. While Ilhan Kyuchyuk, the special rapporteur for Macedonia and MEP, is extremely correct and moderate, his colleague from GERB and also MEP, Andrey Kovatchev, threatens with consequences!

The past is a roadmap for the European future of the new generations! Happy Ilinden!, wrote Kyuchyuk on Twitter.

Kovatchev, on the other hand, accused President Pendarovski of “following in the footsteps of Putin and Vucic”!