Spirko Lazarovski comes from the city of Skopje in the Republic of Macedonia, but he is really enthusiastic and willing to study the history of proto-Bulgarian khans and tsars, of the establishment of the Bulgarian state and of all the battles for its defense. According to the man, the example of our glorious predecessors is now needed more than ever. We should stick to the legacy of proto-Bulgarian Khan Kubrat, saying that together we stay strong. The young man from Skopje says Kubrat was one of the most dignified personalities in our history and we see the image of the tsar even on his T-shirt. At the start of the schoolyear Spirko will be once again one of the volunteers who tour around the country and gift to children comics devoted to Kubrat’s legacy. ‘I opted for supporting a foundation that fundraises and invests into such patriotic initiatives,’ Spirko says and adds:

“We are organizing an active campaign now for a third year in a row and donating comics to each third grader in the country. We opted for this approach, because they start having patriotic classes and getting interested in history at this stage. It even happened that we had to climb up the mountain for one kid in a remote village. The idea is that the book carries a great message and we work with children as they are the future of the nation and we need to wake up their interest, in order to study more. Comics are a good way to make them go through the pictures and read the text on. Thus we provoke their curiosity and also support the work of the teachers.”

Whenever one starts talking with Spirko, he would never recognize that the man wasn’t born in Bulgaria and didn’t graduate from a Bulgarian school. His Bulgarian is perfect, but he says that efforts have been necessary, mostly out of respect for the people that he meets with and works with in Sofia. ‘Thanks to the learning of the language I managed to read interesting books and to understand more about the culture, traditions and events across these lands,’ Spirko Lazarovski says and adds:

“I come from Macedonia, but have lived in Bulgaria since 2003. However, there was this thing I realized after I had relocated. Now I can easily say that I am a Sofia citizen, as I live in this city, take care of it and contribute to the greater good.

That is why I can say that I come from Bulgaria now. I don’t know where I will be in 10 years. I wouldn’t like to turn back to the past and that is why I will only say that I like the current bilateral policy of Bulgaria and Macedonia. I see the warming up of the relations and I see it contributing to people’s life. Nations usually follow their politicians and when they see the latter paying visits to each other and having mutual respect for their holidays, then the people are much more relaxed as well. We should look at the future and not at the past. There is no basic difference between Bulgarians and Macedonians – both in good and bad. What I don’t like is that the two peoples tend to complain a lot, expecting someone else to do the job. This year and together with volunteers from the organization we visited the Celle di Bulgheria town in Italy, where heirs of the old Bulgarians are considered to have settled down. They have many features in common with our people, but are different at the same time. The physical appearance is the same, they are warm-hearted, they drink red wine and are hospitable, but other features attracted my attention as well. They are tidier, more united and more mannerly people than us. This gives me hope that someday we will be just like them, but efforts are necessary too. We have a beautiful land, full of historical landmarks, so we should invite more tourists and develop the country’s economy more in this way,” Spirko Lazarovski says in conclusion.

English version:

Zhivko Stanchev 

courtesy of Spirko Lazarovski