Currents of History 2/2019

Aleksandar Raković

On the Republic of Macedonia in Contemporary Geopolitics

Abstract: The paper presents a critical assessment of the findings and views of Bulgarian historian Vojin Božinov, published in his book The Republic of Macedonia in Contemporary Geopolitics. The paper evaluates and supplements some of the facts presented in the book, while giving arguments in favor of historical and contemporary Macedonianism, as well as Macedonian Yugoslavism and post-Yugoslavism.

Key words: Republic of Macedonia (Republic of North Macedonia), Bulgaria, Serbia, Macedonianism, Yugoslavism

The Republic of Macedonia, that is, its Slavic part, has its own developed national identity, based on Macedonianism. Incidentally, Macedonianism is not a Serbian concoction; it is an autochthonous Macedonian phenomenon, which the Serbian and even Yugoslav planners recognized more clearly than the Bulgarians; and also nurtured. Existing in a common socialist state brought Serbs and Macedonians even closer together as culturological Yugoslavs. Therefore, historical experience and today’s circumstances indicate that Serbism and Macedonianism can go together, whereas Bulgarianism completely excludes Macedonianism as a distinct identity. Refusing to accept Macedonianism and its historical foundation is one of Bulgaria’s most important geopolitical mistakes.