Ethnic Macedonians in Bulgaria (Macedonian:Македонци во Бугарија,romanized: Makedonci vo Bugarija) are one of the ethnic communities inBulgaria. They are concentrated within theBlagoevgrad Province and the capitalSofia.^{[citation needed]} The issue surrounding this community is highly controversial as Bulgarian authorities traditionally claim that there is no actual ethnic difference between Macedonians and Bulgarians.

At the1934 census, no Macedonians were recorded in Bulgaria. DuringWorld War II, most parts of Yugoslav and Greek Macedonia wereannexed by Bulgaria, and the local Slavic-speakers were regarded by the authorities as Bulgarians. After WWII the Macedonian Slavs were recognized as a distinct nationality in Yugoslavia, and between 1946 and 1958 they were recognized in Bulgaria as a separate minority too. During this period there was a surge ofMacedonistic policies, the government went as far as to declare the newly codifiedMacedonian an official language of the Pirin region.^[6][7] TheBulgarian Communist Party was compelled byJoseph Stalin to accept the formation of a distinct Macedonian nation, in order to create with the Yugoslav and Greek communists aUnited Macedonian state, as part of a scheduledBalkan Communist Federation^[8][9][10] (see also the 1947Bled Agreement). At the 1946 and 1956 censuses, the results indicated their number of almost 170,000, respectively 190,000. There are clear indications that the vast majority of the population from Blagoevgrad Province then was listed as ethnic Macedoniansex officio by order of the authorities.^[8][9][11]

However, differences soon emerged with regard to theMacedonian question. Whereas Bulgarians envisaged a state where Yugoslavia and Bulgaria would be placed on an equal footing,^[12] the Yugoslavs saw Bulgaria as a seventh republic in an enlarged Yugoslavia.^[12] Their differences also extended to the national character of theMacedonians – whereas Bulgaria considered them to be a national offshoot of theBulgarians,^[13] the Yugoslavs regarded them as people who had nothing to do with the Bulgarians.^[14] As result, gradual change of that policy came in Bulgaria after the Tito–Stalin split in 1948. After 1958 the Bulgarian authorities has denied the presence ofMacedonian minority in the country, claiming there is no ethnic difference between both communities. At the 1965 census9,632 citizens were listed as Macedonian. Subsequently Belgrade, and after 1991 Skopje, has insisted on the presence of much larger ethnic community, with some circles stating on 750,000oppressed Macedonians there.^[15]

According to theBulgarian Helsinki Committee in 1998, their number ranged from 15,000 to 25,000.^[16] In 2006, per the personal evaluation of a leading local ethnic Macedonian activist Stojko Stojkov, they counted already between 5,000 and 10,000 people. The 1992 census indicated 10,830 Macedonians, but in the 2001 census this figure had decreased to 5,071. However, in the 2011 Bulgarian census 1,654 people declared themselves to be ethnicMacedonians, while in the latest2021 Bulgarian census, only 1,143 citizens declared themselves asethnic Macedonians.

Until 1913 the majority of theSlavic-speaking population of all three parts of theregion of Macedonia identified asBulgarian.^[16] However, clear national consciousness existed among intelligentsia, revolutionaries and clergy on the other hand the peasantry was not involved in national debates, they were meaningless to their concern.^[17] Thus, as seen by observers, the affiliation of Macedonian Slavs to different national camps was not indeed belonging to an ethnic group, but rather political and flexible option.^[18] In October 1925 the Slavic population in the Bulgarian part of Macedonia repulseda brief invasion by Greece, fighting alongside the Bulgarian army. In 1922, areferendum was held in Bulgaria to try those responsible for theSecond Balkan andFirst World Wars, which were lost by Bulgaria and which led to the full accession of Macedonia. Macedonians in Bulgaria voted "no" en masse because of thepro-Yugoslav line of the rulingBulgarian Agrarian National Union (BZNS) and because of the accusation that its leaders assisted the defeat of Bulgaria in the last war due to their leadership military mutiny. The rest of Bulgaria voted mostly 'yes' because (outside several cities) they were strongly opposed to the rulingAgrarianist government and with weakercommunist opposition.^[19] DuringWorld War II, most parts of Yugoslav and Greek Macedonia were annexed by Bulgaria, and the local Slavic-speakers were regarded and self-identified asMacedonian Bulgarians.^[20][21] Not until much later did the process of Macedonian national identity formation gain momentum.^[16] After 1944, thePeople's Republic of Bulgaria and theSocialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia began a policy of making Macedonia a connecting link for the establishment of newBalkan Federative Republic and stimulating there a development of distinctSlav Macedonian consciousness.^[22] TheCommunist Party of Greece and its fraternal parties in Bulgaria andYugoslavia had already been influenced by theResolution of the Comintern on the Macedonian Question, and it was the only political party in Greece to recognize Macedonian national identity.^[23] The region of Vardar Macedonia received the status of aconstituent republic within Yugoslavia as theSocialist Republic of Macedonia, and in 1945 a separateMacedonian language was codified. The local Slavic population was proclaimed to be ethnically Macedonian – a new nationality meant to be different from the Bulgarians orSerbs.

For a period of some years after the war, the Yugoslav and Bulgarian leadersJosip Broz Tito andGeorgi Dimitrov worked on a project to merge their two countries into a Balkan Federative Republic according to the projects ofBalkan Communist Federation. As a concession to the Yugoslavian side, Bulgarian authorities agreed to the recognition of a distinct Macedonian ethnicity and language as part of their own population in the Bulgarian part of geographical Macedonia. This was one of the conditions of theBled agreement, signed between Yugoslavia and Bulgaria on 1 August 1947. In November 1947, pressured by the Yugoslavs, Bulgaria also signed a treaty of friendship with Yugoslavia, and teachers were sent from the Socialist Republic of Macedonia to Blagoevgrad Province to teach the newly codified Macedonian language.^[24][25] The Bulgarian presidentGeorgi Dimitrov was sympathetic to theMacedonian Question.^[26] The Bulgarian communist government was compelled once again to adapt its stand to Soviet interests in the Balkans.^[25][8][9] At the same time, the organisation of the old nationalist movement theInternal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (IMRO) in Bulgaria was suppressed by the Bulgarian communist authorities.^[27]

However, differences soon emerged with regard to theMacedonian question. Whereas Dimitrov envisaged a state where Yugoslavia and Bulgaria would be placed on an equal footing and Macedonia would be more or less attached to Bulgaria, Tito saw Bulgaria as a seventh republic in an enlarged Yugoslavia tightly ruled from Belgrade.^[12] Their differences also extended to the national character of theMacedonians – whereas Dimitrov considered them to be an national offshoot of theBulgarians,^[13] Tito regarded them as an independent nation which had nothing to do with the Bulgarians.^[14] Thus the initial tolerance for theMacedonization ofBulgarian Macedonia gradually grew into outright alarm. As result gradual change of that policy came in Bulgaria after theTito–Stalin split in 1948.

Hürriyet claimed that Macedonians in Bulgaria wishing to join Yugoslavia reportedly conducted guerilla warfare in 1951.^[28] PerKathimerini, about 400 Macedonian prisoners were being held in theBelene labour camp in 1951.^[29] At that time in the Pirin region didn't crystallize such significant collective identity, which may be qualified as a Macedonian minority.^[30][31][32] According to modern Bulgarian authors and sources, such people were in fact notethnic Macedonians who wish to join Yugoslavia, butIMRO right-wing activists, supporters of the idea about anIndependent Macedonia. Some of them formedanti-communist detachments, while others were arrested by the communist authorities andinterned in labour camps.^{[33][34][35][36][37]} However, based on reports from theBulgarian Secret Services in 1956, even pro-Yugoslav Macedonian organizations from Bulgaria that wanted to unitePirin Macedonia withSR Macedonia as part ofSFR Yugoslavia were classified as "Mihajlovists" (originally IMRO anti-communist right-wing activists).^[38][39]

A change of policy came in 1958.^[8][9] At the plenum of theBulgarian Communist Party held the same year, the decision was made that the Macedonian nation and language did not exist.^[40][41] Afterwards, the teaching of the Macedonian language was discontinued and the Macedonian teachers from Yugoslavia were expelled.^[24] Since 1958, Bulgaria has not recognized a Macedonian minority in the Pirin region and in the following ten years, the 178,862 strong Macedonian population fell to just 1,600.^[24] The March Plenum of the Central Committee of the BCP openly denounces any notion of "a separate Macedonian nation" in Bulgaria. However, in 1960 theBulgarian State Security reported that they revealed youth organizations where Blagoevgrad region occupies a leading position, indicating that most of them are on "nationalist" Macedonian base.^[42] In 1964 four people were tried for writing: "We are Macedonians" and "Long live the Macedonian nation" on a restaurant wall.^[43] The Bulgarian authorities also implemented internalexile against Macedonians who didn't comply with them.^[44]

Since the fall ofcommunism in the early 1990s various associations have been set up to represent the minority, these include the association United Macedonian Organisation (UMO-Ilinden), the political partyUnited Macedonian Organisation: Ilinden–Pirin (UMO Ilinden-Pirin) and theInternal Macedonian Revolutionary Organisation - Independent (IMRO-I) .^[45] These organizations have called for the restoration of rights granted to Macedonians during the 1940s and 1950s.^[45] However, such organizations in Pirin were restrained by Bulgarian authorities in the 1990s. Police also prevented ethnic Macedonians from commemoratingJane Sandanski at his gravesite.^[46] The 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".^[47]

Meanwhile, in 1999,Ivan Kostov andLyubcho Georgievski, the prime ministers of Bulgaria and Macedonia respectively, signed a common declaration, which proclaimed that no Macedonian minority exists within Bulgaria.^[48]

In 2006, according to a 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.^[49] According to theBulgarian 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 inGreek Macedonia.^[16] Moreover, the majority of Bulgarians believe that most of the population of North Macedonia is Bulgarian.^[50] In 2019, Bulgaria adopted a framework position on theEU accession of North Macedonia, in which it demanded that North Macedonia refrain from supporting the Macedonian minority in the country in any way and re-affirmed its non-recognition of the minority.^[51]

From 20 to 31 December 1946, thePeople's Republic of Bulgaria conducted acensus during which, on 27 December the governor of Blagoevgrad districts sent a telegram with an order all Bulgarians (excluding the ones migrated from other regions of Bulgaria) in the region to be counted asethnic Macedonians, including theBulgarian Muslims.^[52] According to the census results 169,544^[53] people of Bulgaria declared themselves to be ethnic Macedonians. Of the total 252,908 inhabitants ofBlagoevgrad Province 160,541 or roughly 64% of the population declared themselves to be ethnic Macedonians.^[54] Other areas of Macedonian declaration was 2,638 inSofia, 2,589 inPlovdiv, 1,825 inBurgas and a further 1,851 were scattered throughout Bulgaria.^{[citation needed]}

The forcible change of the ethnicity of the population was confirmed by the leader of the opposition partyBZNS "Nikola Petkov" who on 30 December 1946 stated that "the population is disgusted by this outrageous violation of conscience."^[55] This issue was confirmed by theex-president of theRepublic of BulgariaPetar Stoyanov^[56] andVeselin Angelov [bg] (аssoc scientist, Ph.D. in history), from the Regional Historical Museum of Blagoevgrad - where the document with the order is kept.^[57]

There are strong indications that the majority of the population fromBlagoevgrad Province was listed as ethnic Macedonians against their will in the 1946 and 1956 census.^[8][9]

In 1956, 187,789 people of Bulgaria declared themselves to be ethnic Macedonians. Of the 281,015 inhabitants ofBlagoevgrad Province, 178,862 people declared themselves to be Macedonians; a rate which stayed the same at roughly 64% of the population.^[58][59] Other areas of Macedonian declaration consisted of: 4046 fromSofia, 1955 fromPlovdiv and the remaining 2926 were scattered throughout Bulgaria.^{[citation needed]}

The change in the population came in 1965 census, when the people in the province declared free as Bulgarians, within ten years the 187,789 strong Macedonian minority fell to just 9,632 individuals.^[11] The 1965 census counted only 9,632 people declaring themselves to be Macedonians.^[24] While the number of Macedonians from other parts of Bulgaria did not change compared to previous censuses (c. 8–9,000), the number of Macedonians in the district of Blagoevgrad fell to 1,432 in the 1965 census. The Communist Party of Bulgaria insisted at the time that the process had been completed in a completely "free" manner, but 20 years later Zhivkov mentioned a "manoeuvre" he had employed, known only to four persons, to turn the all the population of the region of Pirin into Bulgarians "within a few days".^[60]

In the 1992 census, 10,803 people declared themselves to be Macedonian. Of them, 3,500 registered Macedonian as their mother tongue.^[61] According to the President of the Bulgarian Helsinki CommitteeKrasimir Kanev in 1998, the number of Macedonians in Bulgaria varied from 15,000 to 25,000.^[16]

Results of the 2001 census in the Blagoevgrad region of Bulgaria.^[62]

As regards self-identification, a total of 1,654 people officially declared themselves to be ethnic Macedonians in the latest Bulgarian census in 2011 (0,02%) and 561 of them are inBlagoevgrad Province (0,2%).^[63] There are 1,091 citizens of North Macedonia who arepermanent residents in Bulgaria.^[64]

TheUMO Ilinden-Pirin party claims to represent the ethnic Macedonian minority in Bulgaria. In 2007 it was accepted as member of theEuropean Free Alliance. On 29 February 2000, by decision of theBulgarian Constitutional Court, UMO Ilinden–Pirin was banned, as aseparatist party, which is banned by the Bulgarian constitution,^[65] which also forbids parties on ethnic and religious grounds. On 25 November, theEuropean Court of Human Rights inStrasbourg condemned Bulgaria because of violations of the UMO Ilinden–Pirin's freedom of organizing meetings.^[66] The court stated that Bulgaria had violated Act 11 from theEuropean Convention of Human Rights.^[67] UMO-Ilinden has been accused of being funded by the Skopie government by VMRO-BND.^[68][69]

Many other Macedonian organizations have been set up since the fall of communism they include;Independent Macedonian Association – Ilinden,Traditional Macedonian Organization — TMO,Union for the Prosperity of Pirin Macedonia,Committee on the Repression of Macedonians in the Pirin part of Macedonia,Solidarity and Struggle Committee of Pirin Macedonia, theMacedonian Democratic Party and thePeople's Academy of Pirin Macedonia.^[16]

On 30 October 2022, a Macedonian culture club named afterNikola Vaptsarov was opened.^[70] Prior to the opening of the club, on 18 October 2022, the Council of theBlagoevgrad Municipality adopted a declaration which banned the opening of the club.^[71][72] During the opening a verbal incident occurred, and delegations were blocked laying wreaths on the Gotse Delchev monument in Blagoevgrad by members ofVMRO-BND.^[70]

On 4 February 2023, the glass façade of the club was smashed by unknown individuals with stones on 4 February 2023.^[73][74] Multiple people were arrested.^[75] The perpetrators say that this is in response to thearrests and beatings of Bulgarian citizens who came to worship in front of the remains ofGotse Delchev inSkopje on the occasion of the 151st anniversary of his birth at the border posts of North Macedonia and Bulgaria that afternoon.^[76] The incident was condemned by North Macedonia's president, Stevo Pendarovski, and by theEuropean Free Alliance.^[77][78]

In 1947 the newspaperPirinski Vestnik (Pirin Newspaper)^[79][80] was established and a "Macedonian Book" publishing company were set up.^[80][81] These were part of the measures to promote the Macedonian language and consciousness and were subsequently shut down in 1958. In the early 1990s a new newspaper was established for the ethnic Macedonian minority in Blagoevgrad Province, it is calledNarodna Volja and its main office is inBlagoevgrad. The ideology of the newspaper is similar to official state policies andhistoriography in North Macedonia. Among its main topics are the history and culture of Macedonia and the Macedonians in Bulgaria.

Macedonians have been refused the right to register political parties (see United Macedonian Organization Ilinden and OMO Ilinden - PIRIN) on the grounds that the party was an "ethnic separatist organization funded by a foreign government", something that is against the Bulgarian constitution. The constitutional court has not however banned theEvroroma (Евророма) andMRF(ДПС) parties, who are widely considered as ethnic parties. TheEuropean Court of Human Rights held "unanimously, that there had been a violation of Article 11 (freedom of assembly and association) of the European Convention on Human Rights."^[82]

In November 2006, the members of theEuropean ParliamentMilan Horáček,Joost Lagendijk,Angelika Beer andElly de Groen-Kouwenhoven introduced an amendment to the accession of Bulgaria to the European Union protocol calling "on the Bulgarian authorities to prevent any further obstruction to the registration of the political party of the ethnic Macedonians (OMO-Ilinden PIRIN) and to put an end to all forms of discrimination and harassment vis-à-vis that minority."^[83]

On 28 May 2018, theEuropean Court of Human Rights made two decisive rulings against Bulgaria in violation of Article 11 (freedom of assembly and association) of theConvention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. In the two rulings: Case of Vasilev and Society of the Repressed Macedonians in Bulgaria Victims of the Communist Terror v. Bulgaria (Application no. 23702/15);^[84] and Case of Macedonian Club for Ethnic Tolerance in Bulgaria and Radonov v. Bulgaria (Application no. 67197/13),^[85] the European Court of Human Rights unanimously ruled that Bulgaria violated Article 11 (freedom of assembly and association) of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, and that Bulgaria must pay a collective total of 16,000 euros to the applicants.

• Dimitar Blagoev (1856–1924), political leader and philosopher
• Krsto Enčev, co-founder ofNarodna Volja ("People's Will") newspaper^[86]
• Georgi Hristov, poet^[87]
• Vasil Ivanovski (1906–1991), journalist^[88]
• Ivan Katardžiev (1926–2018), historian and politician^[89]
• Jordan Kostadinov, ethnic Macedonian rights activist, co-founder of OMO Ilinden Party^[90]
• Slave Makedonski, poet and writer^[91]
• Venko Markovski (1915–1988), writer, poet, and partisan
• Krste Misirkov (1874–1926), philologist, writer, historian, and ethnographer
• Katerina Nurdzhieva (1922–2018), ethnic Macedonian activist
• Georgi Radulov, professor^[92]
• Boris Sarafov (1872–1907), IMRO revolutionary
• Mihail Smatrakalev, poet and activist^[93][94]
• Georgi Solunski, actor^[95][96]
• Stojko Stojkov (historian), historian and journalist
• Stefan Vlahov Micov, political activist

• Bulgaria–North Macedonia relations
• Bulgarians in North Macedonia
• Ethnic groups in Bulgaria
• Macedonian diaspora

• OMO Ilinden-Pirin - The site of the banned ethnic Macedonian party in Bulgaria.
• Center for Documentation and Information on Minorities in Europe-Southeast EuropeArchived 23 July 2006 at theWayback Machine - Comprehensive study done by the Greek Helsinki Monitor on the Macedonians in Bulgaria.
• Narodna Volja - Macedonian Newspaper for Theory, History, Culture and the Arts.
• Bulgarian Subject Files - Social Issues: Minorities: Macedonians,Blinken Open Society Archives, Budapest

• Macedonian given names
• Ethnic groups in Bulgaria
• Ethnic Macedonian people
• Blagoevgrad Province
• Bulgaria–North Macedonia relations
• Macedonian diaspora

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