In glorious times past, Macedon was the ancient kingdom of Alexander the Great. Now, it is a picturesque and  controversial little country. In Bulgaria, people tend to think of Macedonia as an erstwhile part of the Greater Bulgarian Empire, from back when their own vast kingdom reached “the three seas” — the Black Sea, the Mediterranean, and the Aegean. In more recent years it was part of what was known as Yugoslavia, the collection of mostly Slavic states cobbled together in the messy aftermath of WWI. Then when that was torn apart starting in the 1990s and running into this century, the bits and pieces included at least one part they couldn’t even label. That was, of course, Macedonia. The country’s official name is F.Y.R.O.M., at least as far as the EU and NATO are concerned. The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. Really! That’s because neighboring Greece lays claim to the word Macedonia, since it is the name they call a region of theirs near the border. Like having trademark rights on “Greek Yogurt” (because, as any Bulgarian will tell you, yogurt originated in Bulgaria and the best comes from there. Even our FDA says it isn’t yogurt unless it contains lactobacillus bulgaricus. But I digress.)

Image from facebook.com/MacoMemes/

I mentioned Macedonia only in passing in A Breeze in Bulgaria, in connection with telling about the history behind September “Unification Day” holiday (p. 52). Still, every time it came up it was an uncomfortable topic, one that people would say that’s too hard to go into now, beyond half-jokingly saying that the Macedonians are really Bulgarian but they just don’t know it. The languages are very similar, the food and certainly the rakiya are the same, the Orthodox Christian religion is separated only by political jurisdictions, and many cultural traditions are so similar as to be identical to the casual observer. I’m quite casual enough to qualify, and I expect many readers here will be as well. With so much similarity (for those of us unaware of nuances and old injuries), the underlying and persistent antagonism between the two countries is hard to comprehend.

With that background, I was surprised to read today of a breakthrough in international relations, one related to Macedonia. The headline caught my eye immediately:

Macedonia, Bulgaria Set to Sign Historic Friendship Treaty

I think it’s about time we had some news involving peace and friendship, don’t you? The story was reported in the Balkan Insight news service, and if I may quote,

    Leaders of Macedonia and Bulgaria on Tuesday are to sign a historic friendship treaty that aims to turn their long ambiguous relationship into a close, EU-oriented friendship.
   The occasion, deemed historic by observers in both countries, will be accompanied by much symbolism as well.
   In Skopje, Borissov and Zaev will lay flowers at the tomb of the Ottoman-era revolutionary Goce Delcev, a historic figure that both countries revere as a national hero. [More…]

That is great news, isn’t it? I hope it gives you a lift. It does me. I needed one. I’ve been drawn into a few rabbit holes lately, on Facebook and by watching the news.

Peace in our time. Think about it.