The difference from the previous work of the Joint Commission for Historical and Educational Issues is that the work takes place in a much more constructive and positive atmosphere, which gives a forecast that harmonization and recommendations for Tsar Samuil and the medieval period can be reached really quickly, says Dragi Gjorgiev, co-chair of the Macedonian team of the Macedonian-Bulgarian Commission. He says that no concrete conclusion has been reached yet for the celebration of certain historical figures, as announced by the Bulgarian Prime Minister Kiril Petkov in Sofia yesterday, but the atmosphere in the Commission indicates optimism.

The constructive atmosphere leaves room for us to reconcile conclusions about the medieval period and about Tsar Samuel at the next meeting to be held live this Thursday and Friday in Skopje, which will then be recommended content for history textbooks. Goce Delcev is also on the agenda, for whom at the last meeting in February we only started a little discussion and now we will continue. Some technical things are on the agenda, such as harmonizing the minutes from the previous meetings, Gjorgiev told “Sloboden Pecat”.

He explains that when they agree on the conclusions about Tsar Samuel and the medieval period, then they should be adopted by the Macedonian and Bulgarian governments, and when new textbooks are made that cover this subject matter, future authors will have to take into account the recommendations and conclusions of the Government and the Commission.

Bulgarian Prime Minister Kiril Petkov yesterday in Sofia at a joint press conference with the Prime Ministers of Macedonia, Montenegro and Romania, Dimitar Kovacevski, Zdravko Krivokapic and Nikolae Chuka said that the Historical Commission had informed him that progress had been made on important historical figures of a very constructive and realistic way that opens the possibility for overcoming the differences and for speeding up the negotiations between Sofia and Skopje.