Mickoski: Delchev’s relics brought to Skopje as result of the Bled Agreement
Mickoski said the episode should be seen through the prism of the Bled Agreement signed on 1 August 1947.
Official Sofia marked today the return of the remains described there as those of the "Bulgarian tsar Samoil," a move that Skopje's leadership has followed with restraint.
Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski told reporters that the episode should be viewed through the prism of the Bled Agreement and recalled historical steps taken after World War II that affected the region's borders and identities.
"I comment on that in the direction of the Bled Agreement which was reached immediately after the capitulation of fascist Bulgaria, which, I would say, occupied during World War II the territory of present-day Macedonia. Someone calls that 'administration' by politicians, fortunately those are former politicians, that is, former politicians in office, meaning they are still active in the opposition through councils of the leaderships in the opposition, they have their puppets there and they direct them. As for the transfer of the relics, I would return back several decades when the relics of the Macedonian giant Delchev, as a result of that Bled Agreement, were brought to Skopje. And that is something that should make us Macedonians proud, because the relics of that giant, who in his time was ahead of his time, symbolize a great deal for Macedonian identity," Mickoski said.
What the Bled Agreement said
The Bled Agreement was signed on 1 August 1947 in Bled, Slovenia, by Yugoslav leader Josip Broz Tito and Bulgarian prime minister Georgi Dimitrov. The treaty included Bulgaria's first formal recognition of a Macedonian minority in Pirin Macedonia and of the Macedonian language, and it envisaged a future unification of Vardar and Pirin Macedonia plus cultural autonomy for the Pirin part.
The deal also abolished visas and eased border controls, while Yugoslavia forgave Bulgaria some $25 million in war damages. After the Tito–Stalin split in 1948, Sofia terminated the agreement on 1 October 1949.
The recent ceremony in Sofia and Mickoski's remarks come as officials in Skopje monitor developments cautiously, balancing historical memory and contemporary diplomacy.
Photo: press material from the event
