Name? Kiril Petkov
Westphalian identity? Bulgarian
Age? 41
Why is he in the news? The recently elected Bulgarian Prime Minister Kiril Petkov travelled to North Macedonia this week to discuss clearing a path of its membership of the European Union with his North Macedonian counterpart Dimitar Kovachevski.
Why do we care? Two years ago, North Macedonia changed its name from Macedonia to appease Greece over a name dispute to lift their blockade of EU membership talks. What nobody had on their radar is that not only Greece opposed but Bulgaria as well. The old Borisov government demanded that North Macedonia recognise the Bulgarian roots of the Macedonian language and stipulate the existence of the Bulgarian minority in its constitution. These are matters that Petkov is not likely to move on either but at least willing to negotiate about.
Why should you care? Because Petkov’s visit is at least a beginning and as he stated, he is “a huge optimist for the new dynamics” so why shouldn’t you be? You should not care a lot (2/10) but at least be an optimist, what do you have to lose?
Who else cares? General Secretary of NATO Jens Stoltenberg represents the fading influence of the West in the region. After NATO’s intervention during the Balkan Wars and the prospects of EU membership following the conflict, the West was the most influential power in the region. 20 years later,the Balkan countries are not part of the EU and another big-money player (China) has emerged, causing the region’s focus to change.
Any further comments? How about a history lesson that explains the roots of the problem Petkov and Kovachevski discussed. According to Iakovos Michailidis, Professor of History at the University of Thessaloniki, the history of North Macedonia and Bulgaria are “one and the same” until WWII started. There, Bulgaria aligned itself with the Nazis while North Macedonia aligned itself with Tito’s resistance to the Nazis.
