After the events related to the statement of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the Macedonian language, which caused a real storm of institutional reactions in the public due to its content on spatial and temporal limitation and dialect forms, a new scandal is on the horizon. This time with the historians and members of the Macedonian team of the joint mixed commission with Bulgaria, “Pressing TV” has learned.

The Council of the Institute, as the highest body of the institution, assessed the protocols with Bulgaria as harmful, but its director, Prof. Dragi Gjorgiev, is still silent and nothing has been said about their content. The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Bujar Osmani, announced a meeting with the members of the commission for today.

The Council of the Institute of National History, the oldest scientific institution in Macedonia, with a reaction to the bilateral dispute with Bulgaria points to the importance of linguistic, cultural and historical narratives, both for defining the nation and for its recognition as different from “others”.

The Council of the Institute of National History – Skopje, as a governing body, at its regular session, held on July 25, decided to state its position on the bilateral protocols with the Republic of Bulgaria.

Starting from the fact that the Institute of National History is the oldest scientific institution in the country, founded by a decree dating from July 20, 1948, due to the “great importance of the national history of the Macedonian people”, and referring to the current Law on Scientific Research Activity, which in Article 3 defines the principles of “freedom and autonomy of research and creation, – connection with the educational system, – ethics, – inviolability and protection of the person and dignity of the person, diversity of opinions, methods, theories and doctrines”, as well as the established goals in article 4, including the “affirmation of national identity”, which also includes article 5, which, among other things, defines research in the “field of the historical and cultural identity of the Macedonian people” as a public interest for the state, the Council is obliged to point out the harmfulness of the Bilateral Protocols with Bulgaria, which can lead to a situation in which social narratives will be in collision with the knowledge of Macedonian and most of the world science.

The Council of the Institute of National History – points to the importance of linguistic, cultural and historical narratives, both for defining the nation and for its recognition as different from “others”.

This exclusively scientific action of the Council of the Institute of National History and the announced meeting of Osmani with the members of the commission, on the other hand, lead to the conclusion that no matter how much one avoids it, the fact that politics rises above science, in which instead of institutional, individual views of historians  dominate, is still inevitable!, analyzes Pressing TV.