Macedonia to Protect Bulgarian Monuments on Its Soil

The amendment, adopted on Tuesday by the EU-Macedonian Joint Parliamentary Committee, concerns Skopje's obligation to reconstruct and maintain all foreign military graves on its territory.

It was put forward by the Bulgarian MEP Evgeni Kirilov from the Party of European Socialists during the EU-Macedonia committee meeting.

The remains of some 20,000 Bulgarian soldiers lie under Macedonian soil, and their graves and monuments are in a wretched condition, Kirilov stressed. He pointed out that other countries do not have the same problems with the graves of their soldiers in Macedonia.

He expressed his hope that Macedonia would show goodwill in solving the issue. Sofia and Skopje generally enjoy good relations, but both states complain that their nationals living in the neighbouring country are not adequately protected.

Located in the centre of the Balkan Peninsula, the territory of today’s Macedonia was often on the frontlines between enemy forces during the two Balkan wars of 1912 and 1913.

Macedonia once again found itself on a central battleground during World War One. Neighbouring Serbian, Bulgarian, Greek and Albanian forces all took part in the 'war to end all wars' waged between the great powers of the time.