Bulgaria Treaty Proposal Called 'Indecent'

“We cannot speak about building good neighbourly relations because there are too many problematic elements in the proposed draft treaty,” the expert is quoted as saying.

Sofia's proposed friendship treaty was announced last week, and Macedonia officials said shortly thereafter that they were reviewing the draft proposal.

Dnevnik's source claimed that the thesis for one people in two states was reinforced in the treaty, referring to a belief supported by some Bulgarian scientists, politicians and historians who say that the Macedonian language is in fact a Bulgarian dialect and that Macedonian people are in fact Bulgarians.

The draft is still officially under wraps, but the daily claims it has an English version of the text.

The treaty reportedly has 21 articles, and Dnevnik's expert called at least six problematic or unfairly in Bulgaria’s favour.

Bulgaria places itself in a 'position of power' right from the preamble of the text, the expert said. According to Dnevnik, the text stresses that Bulgaria is a member of the EU and that Macedonia aspires to join the same organisation.

Article 6 states that both countries will cooperate and endorse each other in international organisations where both are members but nothing is said about those organisations in which only one state is a member, like NATO and the EU.

Articles 10, 12 and 13 on the other hand reportedly envisage closer cooperation in the sphere of culture.

According to Dnevnik's expert, the articles demand that Skopje support Sofia’s initiatives for the reconstruction and maintenance of Bulgarian military monuments in Macedonia but say nothing about the possible restoration and preservation of graves of Macedonian dignitaries in Bulgaria and the organisation of anniversaries and holiday celebrations there.

Sofia reportedly asks Skopje to ensure that nothing in its constitution could be used as a basis for interference in Bulgaria's internal affairs in Article 17.

The draft deal was passed from the then Bulgarian Prime Minister Sergey Stanishev to the Macedonian Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski in Skopje in December 2008, the daily claims, adding that the proposal has been kept secret for almost two years.

A spokesman from the Macedonian Ministry of Affairs told reporters last week that the Ministry was reviewing the proposal and wouldn't inform its Bulgarian counterpart of its position until an internal analysis had been completed.