Members of the historic commission between Macedonia and Bulgaria met over the past two days in Sofia to discuss changes to the history textbooks and other issues. The meeting comes at a time of high tension between the two countries following a number of incidents, beatings, attacks on cultural centers and Bulgaria’s reinforced determination to veto Macedonia’s EU accession talks until the country amends its Constitution to include the Bulgarian nation in the Preamble.

Previously the Macedonian members of the commission made major concessions on a number of medieval figures, and agreed to include Bulgarian narratives in the Macedonian books, emphasizing the role the Bulgarian medieval state played with regard to these figures normally considered as part of the Macedonian history in this country. But this did not help reduce tensions – the infighting just moved to the issue of minority rights.

We can’t remain immune to what is happening in the society, the political tensions, misunderstandings, daily spats, that cyclically affect the Macedonian – Bulgarian relations. They of course influence the work of the commission as well, said Dragi Gjorgjiev, head of the Macedonian team of historians.