For the sake of Macedonia’s European future, it is necessary that the country’s bilateral relations with Bulgaria be “freed from the ideologies of totalitarianism, which would help for a real and complete dialogue”, said Bulgarian President Rumen Radev in connection with a statement by President Stevo Pendarovski in the week of the commemoration of the deportation of the Macedonian Jews to the Nazi camp “Treblinka” during the Second World War.

That way we will all win. In my opinion, the interest of the President of the Republic of North Macedonia in history is commendable, but what is said should be based on historical truth, and politicians in our neighborhood still owe their citizens the truth about their own history. A history that for decades has been shrouded in manipulations and forgeries, said Radev after the awarding ceremony of the “2022 Annual Awards for Responsible Business” at the Bulgarian Forum of Business Leaders.

On Sunday, President Pendarovski, in his address in front of the Skopje monument dedicated to the 7,144 deported Macedonian Jews, said that in order to have reconciliation, there should be an apology for the role of the then pro-fascist government in Sofia for the deportation.

He demanded an apology from Bulgaria for the role of the pro-fascist government in Sofia at the time in the deportation of Macedonian Jews.