NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN: THE CASE WITH THE INVISIBLE BULGARIANS IN NORTH MACEDONIA

Abstract

The paper examines the persistent issue of “debulgarization” and resistance to constitutional acknowledement of Bulgarians in North Macedonia, despite the EU negotiating framework, which presupposes their inclusion in the constitution alongside other ethnic groups in the country. The authors examine the discrimination of the Bulgarian ethnic community in North Macedonia at the individual, institutional and structural levels, as a result of the historical reluctance of the state’s political elite to recognize the Bulgarian cultural and historical heritage in the region or the existence of citizens with Bulgarian ethnic identity. The conclusion is that terms such as “Bulgarization” and the instillation of hostility towards Bulgarianness are weaponized to cover up the three deep challenges facing the North Macedonia's elite: the crisis of national identity, the crisis of political regime, and the crisis of the country’s geopolitical orientation.