Ethnic Macedonians in Bulgaria - Macedonians Since 1958

Macedonians Since 1958

In 1964 four people were tried for writing :"We are Macedonians" and "Long live the Macedonian Nation" on a restaurant wall. It has to be noted, though, that the Communist regime took similar measures against any manifestation of nationalist feelings (including Bulgarian). Since the fall of communism in the early 1990s various associations have been set up to represent the minority, these include United Macedonian Organisation: Ilinden–Pirin (UMO Ilinden-Pirin) and the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organisation - Independent (IMRO-I) . These organizations have called for the restoration of rights granted to Macedonians during the 1940s and 1950s. Republic of Bulgaria has not recognized the Macedonian language. However in 1999 the linguistic controversy between the two countries was solved with the help of the phrase: "the official language of the country in accordance with its constitution". Since the early 1990s there has been much speculation as to the size of the minority. The Central Intelligence Agency World Factbook for the years 1991 - 1998 gave estimates between c.221,800 – 206,000 or roughly 2.5% of the total population. No information is provided however as to how the data was acquired. Later editions, for example, the 2008 edition have not given a percentage for the Macedonians but have instead included them in the "Others" group, which comprises 2% of the population and includes, among others, Armenians, Tatars and Circassians.

In 2006, according to personal evaluation of a leading local ethnic Macedonian political activist, Stoyko Stoykov, the present number of Bulgarian citizens with ethnic Macedonian self-consciousness is between 5,000 and 10,000. He has claimed that the result of the 2011 Census, which counted only 1,654 Macedonians is a consequence of manipulation. Stoykov has explained that from this figure, even about 1,000 people were registered as Macedonia citizens. According to the Bulgarian Helsinki Committee, the vast majority of the population in Pirin Macedonia has a Bulgarian national self-consciousness and a regional Macedonian identity similar to the Macedonian regional identity in Greek Macedonia. Moreover, the majority of Bulgarians believe that most of the population of Macedonia is Bulgarian.

Meanwhile, in 1999, Ivan Kostov and Lyubcho Georgievski, the Prime-ministers of Bulgaria and Macedonia respectively, signed a common declaration, which has proclaimed no Macedonian minority exists within Bulgaria.