When in early August the prime ministers of Bulgaria and Macedonia, Boyko Borissov and Zoran Zaev, signed the agreement of friendship, good neighbor relations and cooperation between the two countries, some observers voiced skepticism and doubt, saying it still needed to be realized. Yesterday’s joint meeting of the two governments in Strumica showed that doubts were unjustified. Nine new intergovernmental agreements have been signed and the neighbor agreement is expected to be ratified by the end of the year.

Developments in bilateral relations outweigh expectations and show firm determination to fully normalize relations without delay. The spheres in which this will first happen have already been outlined: infrastructure projects, energy, investments, tourism, and mutual support in disaster situations. A month before the start of the Bulgarian rotational presidency of the Council of the European Union, Macedonian experts will visit Bulgaria in December to learn about its experience in absorbing European funds.

Progress and development in political relations seem to have been reflected in inter-church relations as well. In Strumica, Prime Minister Borissov said that while they did not interfere in church affairs, politicians would be happy if both churches cooperated in the name of the welfare of the two nations. Meanwhile in Sofia, President Rumen Radev and Bulgarian Patriarch Neophyte voiced a similar view that the state and the Orthodox Church in Bulgaria share their will to deepen relations with Macedonia. The Patriarch vowed that the Holy Synod would seek ways for favorable outcome of the desire of the Macedonian Orthodox Church to restore the Eucharistic unity of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church with a renewed Archbishopric of Ohrid in the face of Macedonian

Orthodox Church. Perhaps this question will be discussed by the Holy Synod in Sofia on Monday. What the synod would say is difficult to predict because of historical and canonical point of view the issue is controversial and causes sensitivity and unilateral or even bilateral solutions are impossible, but the readiness of the Bulgarian clergy to respond to the proposal of the Macedonian is a sure sign of goodwill.

Favorable developments in recent problematic spheres of Bulgarian-Macedonian relations come on the eve of the Bulgarian Presidency of the Council of the European Union and coincide with a new phase of dialogue aimed to solve the dispute over Macedonia's name. In this sense, developments are not only of bilateral importance but also have effects on the European and Euro-Atlantic prospects of Macedonia and the western Balkans, as a whole.

English: Alexander Markov